Monday, July 16, 2012
Grand Tournament Group Stage Update
The Grand Tournament group stage is still underway, and it's really starting to heat up now as we get down to the last few games in each group. There are some great games being played whose outcomes will directly decide the seedings for the knockout round. I wanted to take a moment to go through group by group and highlight some of the action taking place.
Group A
Group A is one of the few groups that is entirely finished. Ultra Storm won all four games to lock up the 1st seed, while Desklamp is also advancing to the winner's bracket in the knockout round. Rush_FTK and DarthBowser will also be advancing as the 3rd and 4th seeds, while robotreboot's tournament run is over and he is eliminated.
Ultra Storm and Desklamp will face the winner/runner-up of Group P in the first round of the knockout stage.
Group B
Group B is locked in a heated battle, with all three top spots still up for grabs. The remaining two games are between ymouba and Cereal Killer and between taviroww and ymouba. Here are the possible outcomes:
1. Ymouba wins out --> 1. ymouba, 2. taviroww, 3. CK
2. Ymouba beats CK, loses to taviroww --> 1. taviroww, 2. CK, 3. ymouba
3. Ymouba beats taviroww, loses to CK --> 1. CK, 2. ymouba, 3. taviroww
4. Ymouba loses out --> 1. taviroww, 2. CK, 3. ymouba
As you can see, depending on the outcome, anyone can get any position. Both games are currently more or less even, so it will be very tense as they continue on. The 1st place finisher will get a knockout round match with either Mr--Clean, Zogar1993 or Tequila, while the 2nd place finisher will get a game against japanj. Erniewan will be advancing as the 4th seed in Group B, while Emperor81 has been eliminated.
Group C
The only thing still undecided in Group C is the victor, as Lalann and fdkanns have each vanquished their other three opponents and are now playing for the 1st and 2nd seed. The winner of the group will be playing TotalFire in the first game of the knockout round, while the loser will be playing against excrimophalus -- neither one an enviable matchup.
Evilemario and Uthief are advancing as the 3rd and 4th seeds, while exelon has been eliminated.
Group D
Group D is finished, although not every game has ended. ANT13 has wrapped up 1st place in the group -- even if he loses his current game with blozzee, he will still have the tiebreaker over willy. Similarly, the win does not move blozzee from last place, as he loses the tiebreaker against Haxxson. ANT13 and willy will be facing either black_wave, ichbinsehselber, or grandline in the first round of the knockout. The Pasta King and Haxxson are advancing as the 3rd and 4th seeds, and blozzee has been eliminated.
Group E
Group E is essentially finished, as Kruegster clinched the group victory recently with his win over 1000rpm. 1000rpm and godhammel are still technically battling for 2nd, but the game is over and is just waiting for godhammel's resignation. Barring a miracle (or boot) 1000rpm will finish in 2nd and godhammel in 3rd. D-american_soldier advances as 4th in the group.
Kruegster and 1000rpm will play either Abroxas, xepa, or the Weakest Xiaoniao in the first round of the knockout.
Group F
Group F has the potential to turn into a 3-way tie also, based on how the group finishes. Kamuscha is currently in good position to win the group, assuming he wins his game against oswaldoo -- which is by no means assured. Here are the situations:
1. oswaldoo wins out --> 1. oswaldoo, 2. Kamuscha, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. tale
2. oswaldoo loses to Kam, beats tale --> 1. Kamuscha, 2. oswaldoo, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. tale
3. oswaldoo beats Kam, loses to tale --> 1. oswaldoo, 2. Kamuscha, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. tale
4. oswaldoo loses out (3-way tie) --> 1. Kamuscha, 2. tale, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. oswaldoo
It looks like oswaldoo is losing to tale, which would lead us to the tied situation.
81suibylop has already been eliminated. The Group F winner will face either airob or SM Ephraim in the next round, while 2nd place will face felix45.
Group G
All positions are still wide open in Group G, as there are still quite a few games going on. Walker is in the lead with 2 wins and no losses, though shompiador is still undefeated as well, and funwes and jackcool only have one loss apiece. One thing to note is that shompiador has been AET'd from each of his 3 remaining games, making it quite likely he will lose all 3. In that case, he will still finish in 4th in the group ahead of marxistplot, who he has a tiebreaker over. Jackcool and funwes would both need to win out to finish in 1st in the group.
The Group G winner and runner-up will face either benbever or Black Mont-Blanc in the first knockout round.
Group H
Group H is almost as up in the air as Group G is. Zombiegeologist is playing games against 2 of the remaining players, while Diwa and NDA|D007 are also playing each other. However, NDA's game with Diwa will likely decide the group winner. There is a lot still in play in this group, but I'd keep an eye on this game and this game in particular.
The Group H winner/runner-up will face the Group I winner/runner-up (which is still quite undecided). NGC6240 has been eliminated from Group H.
Group I
Hellraider is currently in control of Group I, having won his first three games. Unless the unexpected happens and he loses his game versus khdou, he will clinch the group victory. The only other game remaining is sarastro vs. khdou, which sarastro appears to be on the verge of losing. If khdou beats sarastro and loses to Hellraider, yet another 3-way tie will occur. Anyways, here are the possible outcomes:
1. khdou wins out --> 1. khdou, 2. Hellraider, 3. sarastro, 4. Dogysamich
2. khdou loses to Hellraider, beats sarastro (3-way tie) --> 1. Hellraider, 2. sarastro, 3. khdou, 4. Dogysamich
3. khdou beats Hellraider, loses to sarastro --> 1. Hellraider, 2. sarastro, 3. Dogysamich, 4. khdou
4. khdou loses out --> 1. Hellraider, 2. sarastro, 3. Dogysamich, 4. khdou
As you can see, in most situations Hellraider will end up in first, while sarastro will finish 2nd or 3rd, and khdou can't do better than 3rd unless he wins out.
The Group I winner/runner-up will face the Group H winner/runner-up. NorthernRebel27 has already been eliminated.
Group J
Nothing has been decided yet in what could be considered the Group of Death, with exactly half of the games finished. Black Mont-Blanc and benbever have taken control of the group with two wins apiece, and their game against each other will likely decide the group winner. Meanwhile, headphone looks to be winning his game against nyvelion, and losing his game against BMB, which would settle him into 3rd place if both results occurred. Meanwhile, nyvelion and OA__Stupid are fighting not to be eliminated, although 1st round boots are hurting both.
The Group J winner/runner-up will face the Group G winner/runner-up.
Group K
Felix45 has already clinched his position as first place in Group K, having won all four round robin games. The only battle remaining is between airob and SM Ephraim, the winner of which will take 2nd place in the group. The game is relatively even, although airob has a slight edge having managed to grab both towers.
Felix will face the runner-up of Group F in the knockout round, while the winner of airob/SM Ephraim will likely face Kamuscha. Grit Snipe will advance as 4th place in Group K, while newfreshd has been eliminated.
Group L
The battle for the top three spots in Group L is still very much on. The Weakest Xiaoniao has the advantage with a 3-0 record, but could end up in 2nd, depending on the outcome of his game with xepa. Meanwhile, if xepa wins against Xiaoniao and loses to Abroxas, we will have another 3-way tie, which would place Abroxas in 1st, xepa in 2nd, and Xiaoniao in 3rd. If xepa loses both games, Xiaoniao will get 1st, Abroxas 2nd, and xepa third.
The Group L winner will likely face 1000rpm in the first round, while the runner-up will face Kruegster. Mapster076 will advance as the Group L 4th seed, while itsmyflow has been eliminated.
Group M
There appears to be some strange diplomacy taking place in Group M between black_wave and grandline, who agreed to a draw in their game. Currently both players are tied for first, and each one has a running game with ichbinsehselber. If ichbin wins both games, then black_wave and grandline would be in a tie for 2nd, which would result in black_wave finishing 2nd and grandline finishing 3rd, and if ichbin loses both games black_wave would get 1st, grandline would get second, and ichbin would get third.
The Group M winner will play willy in the first round, while the runner-up will play ANT13. Meanwhile, zaaps1 has secured a position in the knockout round as the 4th seed, and UTP has been eliminated.
Group N
Group N is in the same position as Group A -- completely finished. Excrimophalus has locked up first place, with the tiebreaker over TotalFire. CoolJets has locked up 3rd place, eanddlewis finished in 4th, and sm00040 has been eliminated.
Excrimophalus and TotalFire will face either fdkanns or Lalann in the first round.
Group O
Japanj has locked up the win in Group O, but the fight for 2nd place isn't decided yet. The lone remaining game is between Mr--Clean and Tequila. If Mr--Clean wins, he gets 2nd, Zogar1993 gets 3rd, and Tequila gets 4th. If Mr--Clean loses, it sends the group into a 3-way tie for 2nd, and Tequila would get 2nd, Mr--Clean would get 3rd, and Zogar would get 4th.
Japanj and the runner-up will face the winner/runner-up from Group B in the first round. TGAL05 has been eliminated.
Group P
Finally, we have Group P, which has only 2 games remaining to be finished: dorian5 vs. akiyoshi and TheMute vs. akiyoshi. There are four possible scenarios that could occur, which I'll outline.
1. Akiyoshi wins out --> 1. akiyoshi, 2. dorian, 3. Mute, 4. random
2. Akiyoshi beats dorian, loses to Mute --> 1. dorian, 2. Mute, 3. random, 4. akiyoshi
3. Akiyoshi beats Mute, loses to dorian --> 1. dorian, 2. akiyoshi, 3. Mute, 4. random
4. Akiyoshi loses out --> 1. dorian, 2. Mute, 3. random, 4. akiyoshi
As you can see, akiyoshi can go anywhere from 1st to 4th, dorian can do no worse than 2nd, Mute will finish either 2nd or 3rd, and random can do at best 3rd. The Group P winner will face Desklamp, while the runner-up will face Ultra Storm in the first round. Azzaphox has already been eliminated.
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And that's where we are with the GT2 group stage. I expect the group stage to last another 3-4 weeks, at which point the knockout round will start shortly afterwards. Good luck to everyone remaining!
Until next time,
Walker
Monday, February 20, 2012
Game Watcher 2/20/12
Well, I'm sorry to say that the blog's inactivity is likely to continue for a while. Unfortunately, both Hellraider and I are a bit too busy to put in the time and effort required to make more regular entries. I'm thinking about changing the format of the blog in the near future to make it a bit more manageable, but we'll still try to update periodically until then. For now, I just wanted to point out some current games you might want to keep an eye on.
October Cup Final - fdkanns vs. The Weakest Xiaoniao
Eagle vs. Hawke matchup on el rio acelguate loco!, currently on day 8. The game's dragging along a bit thanks to vacations and general stalling, but should evolve into a pretty good game over the next couple weeks.
December Cup Semifinal - felix45 vs. shompiador_kalabaza
Hawke mirror on Blood Valley, currently on day 18. The game is entering the late stages, and felix certainly has the upperhand. Shompiador is still fighting back, but unless felix gives him an opening, it could be hard to turn this around. The winner will face Walker in the final.
January Cup Final - walkerboh01 vs. sarastro
Andy vs. Max on Land of Ruin, currently on day 4. Could be another interesting game as it gets going, and I'm especially curious whether the map is open enough for Max to win an advantage day to day over Andy.
GT2 Group Stage - black_wave vs ichbinsehselber
Interesting Jake vs. Drake matchup on Beyond Eternity. The winner will likely take 1st place in Group M.
GT2 Group Stage - excrimophalus vs. TotalFire
A great Andy vs. Rachel game on Fulfilled Dreams, currently on day 15. TotalFire has made an ambitious attack, which excrimo is now trying to fight back. Could be very intriguing as it gets to the late game.
GT2 Group Stage - ymouba vs. Cereal Killer
Another Max vs. Andy match, this time on Poetic Justice. Interesting to note that Max has an artillery (a mis-click, according to CK), so we'll see how that affects him. Winner will likely finish 1st or 2nd in Group B.
GT2 Group Stage - fdkanns vs. Lalann
A third Max vs. Andy (seems to be a popular matchup!), on yet another map, Elstar. Fdkanns has taken an early funding advantage, though Lalann is pressing hard in the south to win back the city. Quite likely will decide Group C.
GT2 Group Stage - benbever vs. Black Mont-Blanc
The last time these two played (in the original GT), the game lasted 6 months and took over 30 days in-game, resulting in a BMB victory by default. Hopefully it goes a little quicker this time, but either way the Adder vs. Drake matchup on Fulfilled Dreams will definitely be one worth watching.
Colosseum Season 6 - felix45 vs. fdkanns
Max vs. Andy again! Hm... this has to be a conspiracy or something. Anyways, Max (felix) is holding the upper hand at the moment in this game on Stormiest Glen, after an early push. Far from over, but should be a fun one to watch.
Colosseum Season 6 - Hellraider vs. Ultra Storm
This is the first match we've had between the players widely regarded as the top two on the site (though dorian5 might have something to say about that!). It comes in the form of a high funds match on Morning Glory, and Ultra is off to an aggressive start, having just launched a day 8 attack.
Until next time,
Walker
October Cup Final - fdkanns vs. The Weakest Xiaoniao
Eagle vs. Hawke matchup on el rio acelguate loco!, currently on day 8. The game's dragging along a bit thanks to vacations and general stalling, but should evolve into a pretty good game over the next couple weeks.
December Cup Semifinal - felix45 vs. shompiador_kalabaza
Hawke mirror on Blood Valley, currently on day 18. The game is entering the late stages, and felix certainly has the upperhand. Shompiador is still fighting back, but unless felix gives him an opening, it could be hard to turn this around. The winner will face Walker in the final.
January Cup Final - walkerboh01 vs. sarastro
Andy vs. Max on Land of Ruin, currently on day 4. Could be another interesting game as it gets going, and I'm especially curious whether the map is open enough for Max to win an advantage day to day over Andy.
GT2 Group Stage - black_wave vs ichbinsehselber
Interesting Jake vs. Drake matchup on Beyond Eternity. The winner will likely take 1st place in Group M.
GT2 Group Stage - excrimophalus vs. TotalFire
A great Andy vs. Rachel game on Fulfilled Dreams, currently on day 15. TotalFire has made an ambitious attack, which excrimo is now trying to fight back. Could be very intriguing as it gets to the late game.
GT2 Group Stage - ymouba vs. Cereal Killer
Another Max vs. Andy match, this time on Poetic Justice. Interesting to note that Max has an artillery (a mis-click, according to CK), so we'll see how that affects him. Winner will likely finish 1st or 2nd in Group B.
GT2 Group Stage - fdkanns vs. Lalann
A third Max vs. Andy (seems to be a popular matchup!), on yet another map, Elstar. Fdkanns has taken an early funding advantage, though Lalann is pressing hard in the south to win back the city. Quite likely will decide Group C.
GT2 Group Stage - benbever vs. Black Mont-Blanc
The last time these two played (in the original GT), the game lasted 6 months and took over 30 days in-game, resulting in a BMB victory by default. Hopefully it goes a little quicker this time, but either way the Adder vs. Drake matchup on Fulfilled Dreams will definitely be one worth watching.
Colosseum Season 6 - felix45 vs. fdkanns
Max vs. Andy again! Hm... this has to be a conspiracy or something. Anyways, Max (felix) is holding the upper hand at the moment in this game on Stormiest Glen, after an early push. Far from over, but should be a fun one to watch.
Colosseum Season 6 - Hellraider vs. Ultra Storm
This is the first match we've had between the players widely regarded as the top two on the site (though dorian5 might have something to say about that!). It comes in the form of a high funds match on Morning Glory, and Ultra is off to an aggressive start, having just launched a day 8 attack.
Until next time,
Walker
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Map Makeover - Blood Valley
As pretty much every person who has ever designed a map on AWBW knows, it isn't easy to make a great map. There are tons of questions to consider, ranging from "how many cities do you need?" to "is FTA properly balanced?", and even to "would that forest be better off here, or here?", and it's hard to get it all right. As a result, there are quite a few fun maps on the site that do a lot of things well, but are a couple minor flaws away from being truly excellent maps.
Of course, part of the Map Committee's job is to give people advice on how to edit and improve their maps to help these maps over the hump. Sometimes, though, it's just easier to show than tell. So I'm starting a new feature on the blog today called "Map Makeover", where I'll take a map with a few minor problems, and remake it into what I consider a "fixed" version.
Today, I'll be talking about this map made by tst5384:
Blood Valley
Overview
Blood Valley is a fairly well-made map, and shouldn't be terrible for casual games. It's pretty mountainous and a little choky, but it makes up for it with relatively light terrain (read: lots of roads) and a lone base that can be easily pressured. The map is well balanced; recon-rushing of the neutral base isn't possible, the towers are central but not contested, and the city count is relatively even for each base. It has nice positioning for the preowned bases, which allow tanks to make it to the fronts in a quick amount of time, while not forcing routes for units to take. The corner neutral base is also a nice dynamic, as it provides a bit of a 2 vs. 1 base situation after coming into play a few turns in. Finally, there is a strategic decision to be made about breaking the pipe seam, which takes an arty a couple of turns to break but allows units to more easily support the properties behind the mountain range. All in all, not a bad map.
Where It Went Wrong
First, let's consider the neutral base. The corner positioning is nice because it allows attacks to come from a different direction than the preowned bases, and it opens another front in the corners to help prevent stalemates in the center. Unfortunately, the terrain around the neutral base is waaay too heavy. Mech spam from this base is a natural tactic, since they can get over the mountains and rivers quicker than infantry, and can get to the fronts more quickly and cheaply than tanks (as shown in the below game by Teal Galaxy - played by Abroxas).
Another problem with the heavy terrain in the corner is that it closes off mobility in the area. It's hard to get anything except mechs and infs out from near the base quickly, and it's even harder to reinforce the neutral base area with units from the main bases. This makes it easy to get pinned in the corner.
Second, let's look at the HQs and airports, which both suffer from being positioned further back than necessary. The HQs are way back by the preowned bases, which means that a game ending by HQ capture will only happen once one side has been driven way back from the fronts. Similarly, the airports are stuck in the corners, where it takes 3 days to get into a useful position.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the makeover, let's see what the edited version of this map looks like compared to the original:
Blood Valley
VS.
Bleeding Valley
Changes
1. Neutral base moved slightly forward. This allows vehicles to more easily move towards the front.
2. Terrain in the neutral base corners greatly reduced. This reduces the viability of mech spam and allows for more vehicle mobility in the corners.
3. HQ moved into a less protected area. This creates a need to protect the HQ in case of a base trade, and prevents decided games from dragging out.
4. Airport moved forwards a few spaces. This changes it so that air units are only 3-4 spaces behind units built from the bases, which makes air units more viable. This is especially nice because of the relatively high funding and chokiness of the map.
5. Extra path added through mountains to support neutral base/HQ. This gives more mobility and options for switching units from one front to another. Also helps prevent possible surprise HQ capture.
6. Towers moved slightly backwards. This makes the cities the focal point of the central battle instead of the towers, making it harder for one player to gain a 2-tower advantage over the other.
Until next time,
Walker
Of course, part of the Map Committee's job is to give people advice on how to edit and improve their maps to help these maps over the hump. Sometimes, though, it's just easier to show than tell. So I'm starting a new feature on the blog today called "Map Makeover", where I'll take a map with a few minor problems, and remake it into what I consider a "fixed" version.
Today, I'll be talking about this map made by tst5384:
Blood Valley
Overview
Blood Valley is a fairly well-made map, and shouldn't be terrible for casual games. It's pretty mountainous and a little choky, but it makes up for it with relatively light terrain (read: lots of roads) and a lone base that can be easily pressured. The map is well balanced; recon-rushing of the neutral base isn't possible, the towers are central but not contested, and the city count is relatively even for each base. It has nice positioning for the preowned bases, which allow tanks to make it to the fronts in a quick amount of time, while not forcing routes for units to take. The corner neutral base is also a nice dynamic, as it provides a bit of a 2 vs. 1 base situation after coming into play a few turns in. Finally, there is a strategic decision to be made about breaking the pipe seam, which takes an arty a couple of turns to break but allows units to more easily support the properties behind the mountain range. All in all, not a bad map.
Where It Went Wrong
First, let's consider the neutral base. The corner positioning is nice because it allows attacks to come from a different direction than the preowned bases, and it opens another front in the corners to help prevent stalemates in the center. Unfortunately, the terrain around the neutral base is waaay too heavy. Mech spam from this base is a natural tactic, since they can get over the mountains and rivers quicker than infantry, and can get to the fronts more quickly and cheaply than tanks (as shown in the below game by Teal Galaxy - played by Abroxas).
Another problem with the heavy terrain in the corner is that it closes off mobility in the area. It's hard to get anything except mechs and infs out from near the base quickly, and it's even harder to reinforce the neutral base area with units from the main bases. This makes it easy to get pinned in the corner.
Second, let's look at the HQs and airports, which both suffer from being positioned further back than necessary. The HQs are way back by the preowned bases, which means that a game ending by HQ capture will only happen once one side has been driven way back from the fronts. Similarly, the airports are stuck in the corners, where it takes 3 days to get into a useful position.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the makeover, let's see what the edited version of this map looks like compared to the original:
Blood Valley
VS.
Bleeding Valley
Changes
1. Neutral base moved slightly forward. This allows vehicles to more easily move towards the front.
2. Terrain in the neutral base corners greatly reduced. This reduces the viability of mech spam and allows for more vehicle mobility in the corners.
3. HQ moved into a less protected area. This creates a need to protect the HQ in case of a base trade, and prevents decided games from dragging out.
4. Airport moved forwards a few spaces. This changes it so that air units are only 3-4 spaces behind units built from the bases, which makes air units more viable. This is especially nice because of the relatively high funding and chokiness of the map.
5. Extra path added through mountains to support neutral base/HQ. This gives more mobility and options for switching units from one front to another. Also helps prevent possible surprise HQ capture.
6. Towers moved slightly backwards. This makes the cities the focal point of the central battle instead of the towers, making it harder for one player to gain a 2-tower advantage over the other.
Until next time,
Walker
Grand Tournament Round 1 Games
Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple weeks. It's been a bit busy for me with school kicking up and with plenty of stuff going on around AWBW keeping me too preoccupied to feel like writing much. One of the biggest things going on, as most of you should know, is the start of the Grand Tournament II, which kicked off last week. In honor of that, I'll leave you all with some of the Round 1 games that I'm keeping an eye on:
Group A: Ultra Storm vs. Desklamp
This is probably the best matchup we'll see in Group A for the group stage (although Desklamp vs. Rush_FTK is getting interesting too!), with Desklamp being Ultra's biggest threat to win the group. The Drake mirror is fairly rare for low tier games, and I expect not to see many copters...
Group B: taviroww vs. Cereal Killer
Taviroww is my favorite to win Group B, but Cereal Killer and ymouba both have a good chance if one of them can get a win. CK gets his shot at taviroww in Round 1 in a Max/Andy matchup. At first glance, I'd say that Max has the advantage over Andy. Taviroww appears to be rushing for a tower in the south, although it's on CK's 2-base side, so who knows how well that will work out for him.
Group H: NGC6240 vs. Diwa
If this game ever gets started (still on day 1, with NGC down to 0 days on the boot counter), it could be one of the more intriguing Round 1 matches. Diwa sits at 1st in the Global League and is the favorite going in, but he chose a low tier CO (Jake) against NGC's Andy. This is the match that I predict will decide 1st/2nd place in Group H.
Group I: khdou vs. sarastro
It's hard to say how this match will go, considering that khdou is very much an x-factor. Sarastro has done well in the Global League (13th place as of right now), with good results against better players like Black Mont-Blanc, while khdou is 5-0-0 in the league with no recent games against top competition. This game will be something of a measuring stick for the two players, and will quite likely determine who takes the #2 spot in the group.
Group K: SM Ephraim vs. felix45
Best two players in Group K (in my opinion, although airob could possibly make a claim to that title too), on one of my favorite maps of all-time, Jake mirror, what's not to like? I think felix should be able to handle SM Ephraim, but SM has had surprising results against top players from time to time, so I wouldn't be too shocked to see an upset here.
Group M: black_wave vs. ichbinsehselber
Two of the top 15 players on the site, and this game will almost certainly decide who wins Group M. Nuff said.
Group N: excrimophalus vs. TotalFire
Old, proven veteran in one corner, challenger trying to make a name for himself in the other. If I know excrimo, this game will progress very slowly, but I'm calling an upset alert here. My official prediction: TotalFire takes this game (and not by boot!).
Group O: TGAL05 vs. japanj
Another match between two solid players, but the CO matchup here seems a little lopsided. Maybe TGAL05 knows something we don't about Jess, but I have a feeling that TGAL is not going to be very happy about what Eagle does to her... Still should be an interesting match regardless.
Group P: akiyoshi vs. dorian5
In a funny twist of fate, two of the Japanese players ended up in the same group, and get an early meeting in the tournament. Dorian5 is probably the better of the two, and certainly the favorite to win the game, but I doubt it will be easy. Adder mirror keeps things nice and normal, too.
I'll try to get around to writing a Global League review sometime in the next 3-4 days, so until then.
- Walker
Group A: Ultra Storm vs. Desklamp
This is probably the best matchup we'll see in Group A for the group stage (although Desklamp vs. Rush_FTK is getting interesting too!), with Desklamp being Ultra's biggest threat to win the group. The Drake mirror is fairly rare for low tier games, and I expect not to see many copters...
Group B: taviroww vs. Cereal Killer
Taviroww is my favorite to win Group B, but Cereal Killer and ymouba both have a good chance if one of them can get a win. CK gets his shot at taviroww in Round 1 in a Max/Andy matchup. At first glance, I'd say that Max has the advantage over Andy. Taviroww appears to be rushing for a tower in the south, although it's on CK's 2-base side, so who knows how well that will work out for him.
Group H: NGC6240 vs. Diwa
If this game ever gets started (still on day 1, with NGC down to 0 days on the boot counter), it could be one of the more intriguing Round 1 matches. Diwa sits at 1st in the Global League and is the favorite going in, but he chose a low tier CO (Jake) against NGC's Andy. This is the match that I predict will decide 1st/2nd place in Group H.
Group I: khdou vs. sarastro
It's hard to say how this match will go, considering that khdou is very much an x-factor. Sarastro has done well in the Global League (13th place as of right now), with good results against better players like Black Mont-Blanc, while khdou is 5-0-0 in the league with no recent games against top competition. This game will be something of a measuring stick for the two players, and will quite likely determine who takes the #2 spot in the group.
Group K: SM Ephraim vs. felix45
Best two players in Group K (in my opinion, although airob could possibly make a claim to that title too), on one of my favorite maps of all-time, Jake mirror, what's not to like? I think felix should be able to handle SM Ephraim, but SM has had surprising results against top players from time to time, so I wouldn't be too shocked to see an upset here.
Group M: black_wave vs. ichbinsehselber
Two of the top 15 players on the site, and this game will almost certainly decide who wins Group M. Nuff said.
Group N: excrimophalus vs. TotalFire
Old, proven veteran in one corner, challenger trying to make a name for himself in the other. If I know excrimo, this game will progress very slowly, but I'm calling an upset alert here. My official prediction: TotalFire takes this game (and not by boot!).
Group O: TGAL05 vs. japanj
Another match between two solid players, but the CO matchup here seems a little lopsided. Maybe TGAL05 knows something we don't about Jess, but I have a feeling that TGAL is not going to be very happy about what Eagle does to her... Still should be an interesting match regardless.
Group P: akiyoshi vs. dorian5
In a funny twist of fate, two of the Japanese players ended up in the same group, and get an early meeting in the tournament. Dorian5 is probably the better of the two, and certainly the favorite to win the game, but I doubt it will be easy. Adder mirror keeps things nice and normal, too.
I'll try to get around to writing a Global League review sometime in the next 3-4 days, so until then.
- Walker
Friday, January 13, 2012
Player Spotlight 1/13/12
Welcome back to another Player Spotlight! It is with pleasure that I introduce our featured player for this edition: Abroxas.
Introduction
Abroxas is a 22 year-old student who was born and is currently living in Germany. He is now studying History and Slavistic Philology (for those wondering, Wikipedia describes this as the study of Slavic languages in written historical sources - you learn new things every day!). One of his main interests is history in general, which is one of the driving reasons he's studying it, and he enjoys reading historical books. He also reads belletristic books (back to Wikipedia, belletristic is "a term that is used to describe a category of writing which involves all literary works valued for their aesthetic qualities and originality of style and tone"; e.g.: poetry). Abroxas also enjoys playing older video games occasionally such as Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Donkey Kong Country, or Earthworm Jim, and additionally enjoys extreme or experimental music.
Although he originally joined the site in 2005, Abroxas was only interested in FEBW at the time. Understandably, he abandoned it quickly and left the site until early 2010 when he discovered AWBW. He's been around pretty consistently over the last two years, and has developed into a solid mid-level player. Abroxas has done moderately well in the Global League so far, holding 48th place out of 130 players with his 7-3-0 record as of this morning. He has also participated in the Colosseum consistently over the past few seasons, from Season 3 to Season 6, and has been in Division 4 since Season 4. He is currently 0-1-0 this season, having lost a high funds game to tale in Month 1. Along with those two competitions, Abroxas has been a regular participant in AWBW Cup tournaments, and is 2-1-0 in those tournaments, with a loss to julberndt in the November Cup and wins over Oopth and Roswell the Black Rose (by boot) in the December Cup.
Games and Recent Results
Abroxas has been doing well overall recently. His last loss in competitive play was on 12/31 against grandline (currently ranked #62) in the Global League. Since then he has taken down two consecutive opponents in the league, triumphing over Janusmarine (#46) on 1/03, and then winning again against black-kaito (#76) on 1/08.
Currently Abroxas has 5 Colosseum games running against a variety of opponents, as well as 2 AWBW Cup games and 4 Global League games. Notably, he is playing interesting games against:
walkerboh01 in the semifinals of the December Cup (and doing quite well if I may so myself)
hetchel in the Colosseum
Sheryl Nome in the Colosseum
Interview
Walker: How did you choose the name "Abroxas"? Is there any significance/meaning behind it?
Abroxas: I picked that name as a general nickname many years ago. I didn’t know from where I had got it, but it sounded really cool and unique and so I have been using it until today. Later I discovered from where I must have got it: In “Yoshi’s Island – Super Mario World 2” there have been these black, wingless creatures which have been walking around patched drapery moons. Well, they are meant to resemble ravens, so I read. Their boss, seized up by Koopa magician Kamek and originally known as Rafael the Raven, has been known as Abroxas in the German version. In later games of the Yoshi series the whole raven-species has been called ‘Abroxas’.
Walker: How did you get interested in AW / AWBW?
Abroxas: I do know Advance Wars 1, but never played it excessively. I was discovering the AW series via Fire Emblem when I was enjoying ‘Path of Radiance’ a lot shortly after it came out in late 2005 (both series share the same developer: Intelligent Systems). I’ve started playing AW2: Black Hole Rising then. The same goes for AWBW: I was checking how FEBW was doing after I left it roundabout five years before. I noticed that AWBW worked quite well and so I gave it a try since playing AW online sounds much more interesting than playing FE online.
Walker: Which AW cartridge game did you enjoy the most?
Abroxas: Hard to say. I think it is AW2: Black Hole Rising because I was enjoying the campaign so much. Nowadays I’m playing the AW:DS war room frequently for the sake of the CO repertory.
Walker: What is your favorite map on the site? Do you have a favorite CO to use or country to play as?
Abroxas: I didn’t play on many maps and most of them only once. But I do remember el rio acelguate loco! being very enjoyable. I usually prefer multi-fronted maps and I just happen to like the unorthodox design of this map.
My favorite CO is Sensei, because I loved copter spamming back on AW2. In AW:DS he has been considerably crippled in terms of copters, but I still like his powers because mech spamming can be so much (fund increasing) fun with the old geezer. But since he’s broken I rarely use him in AWBW. From the non-broken COs I like Sami the most, but my profile doesn’t resemble this clearly since she is often banned and when she’s available she often is a semi-optimal choice.
I’m not sure about favorite countries. I love green colors so I use Green Earth and Teal Galaxy often.
Walker: Did you think or do something as a newbie on the site that you look back on now and laugh at?
Abroxas: My very first game was against fdkanns in the old league. Of course he crushed me. I was not sure if it was polite to give up and to deny the opponent of the fun of beating up the remaining troops. So I asked him if I would be allowed give up. Retrospectively, that seems rather awkward to me. He replied positively, though. He was also so kind to give me some basic advices on my play. That helped a lot because I rarely played against other human players before.
Walker: What's the most memorable moment or game you've had on AWBW?
Abroxas: Well, the answer is mostly what I’ve written above. I’ve never lost so badly (though Black Mont-Blanc comes close to it) since then.
Walker: Do you have any goals for yourself on the site? What accomplishment would you be most proud of if you could achieve it?
Abroxas: I’d be very proud if I could manage to compete with the current top players of AWBW. My goal is to improve my game step by step.
Walker: Is there a part of your game that you think you need to improve on most? How do you try to improve and what do you think is most useful for your improvement?
Abroxas: I think I need to improve my capture phase because sometimes I end up slightly disadvantaged against routine players on maps on which it is not clear when exactly you skip nearby cities for contested properties and when not. I try to observe more ongoing games of competitive games (such as the ones of the League) to learn from others. The AWBW blog is also a promising source of inspiration.
Walker: Have you ever thought about designing maps for AWBW?
Abroxas: Yes, but I abandoned it soon. I was always lacking creativity and most time I spend on AWBW I invest in my ongoing games. I might give it a try, but most likely in remote future.
Walker: If there was one thing you'd add or change about AWBW, what would it be?
Abroxas: Since I like FoW, I wish for a bug-free FoW mode.
Thanks to Abroxas for participating! As always, if you'd be interested in being featured for the next Player Spotlight, please send me a PM.
Until next time,
Walker
Introduction
Abroxas is a 22 year-old student who was born and is currently living in Germany. He is now studying History and Slavistic Philology (for those wondering, Wikipedia describes this as the study of Slavic languages in written historical sources - you learn new things every day!). One of his main interests is history in general, which is one of the driving reasons he's studying it, and he enjoys reading historical books. He also reads belletristic books (back to Wikipedia, belletristic is "a term that is used to describe a category of writing which involves all literary works valued for their aesthetic qualities and originality of style and tone"; e.g.: poetry). Abroxas also enjoys playing older video games occasionally such as Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Donkey Kong Country, or Earthworm Jim, and additionally enjoys extreme or experimental music.
Although he originally joined the site in 2005, Abroxas was only interested in FEBW at the time. Understandably, he abandoned it quickly and left the site until early 2010 when he discovered AWBW. He's been around pretty consistently over the last two years, and has developed into a solid mid-level player. Abroxas has done moderately well in the Global League so far, holding 48th place out of 130 players with his 7-3-0 record as of this morning. He has also participated in the Colosseum consistently over the past few seasons, from Season 3 to Season 6, and has been in Division 4 since Season 4. He is currently 0-1-0 this season, having lost a high funds game to tale in Month 1. Along with those two competitions, Abroxas has been a regular participant in AWBW Cup tournaments, and is 2-1-0 in those tournaments, with a loss to julberndt in the November Cup and wins over Oopth and Roswell the Black Rose (by boot) in the December Cup.
Games and Recent Results
Abroxas has been doing well overall recently. His last loss in competitive play was on 12/31 against grandline (currently ranked #62) in the Global League. Since then he has taken down two consecutive opponents in the league, triumphing over Janusmarine (#46) on 1/03, and then winning again against black-kaito (#76) on 1/08.
Currently Abroxas has 5 Colosseum games running against a variety of opponents, as well as 2 AWBW Cup games and 4 Global League games. Notably, he is playing interesting games against:
walkerboh01 in the semifinals of the December Cup (and doing quite well if I may so myself)
hetchel in the Colosseum
Sheryl Nome in the Colosseum
Interview
Walker: How did you choose the name "Abroxas"? Is there any significance/meaning behind it?
Abroxas: I picked that name as a general nickname many years ago. I didn’t know from where I had got it, but it sounded really cool and unique and so I have been using it until today. Later I discovered from where I must have got it: In “Yoshi’s Island – Super Mario World 2” there have been these black, wingless creatures which have been walking around patched drapery moons. Well, they are meant to resemble ravens, so I read. Their boss, seized up by Koopa magician Kamek and originally known as Rafael the Raven, has been known as Abroxas in the German version. In later games of the Yoshi series the whole raven-species has been called ‘Abroxas’.
Walker: How did you get interested in AW / AWBW?
Abroxas: I do know Advance Wars 1, but never played it excessively. I was discovering the AW series via Fire Emblem when I was enjoying ‘Path of Radiance’ a lot shortly after it came out in late 2005 (both series share the same developer: Intelligent Systems). I’ve started playing AW2: Black Hole Rising then. The same goes for AWBW: I was checking how FEBW was doing after I left it roundabout five years before. I noticed that AWBW worked quite well and so I gave it a try since playing AW online sounds much more interesting than playing FE online.
Walker: Which AW cartridge game did you enjoy the most?
Abroxas: Hard to say. I think it is AW2: Black Hole Rising because I was enjoying the campaign so much. Nowadays I’m playing the AW:DS war room frequently for the sake of the CO repertory.
Walker: What is your favorite map on the site? Do you have a favorite CO to use or country to play as?
Abroxas: I didn’t play on many maps and most of them only once. But I do remember el rio acelguate loco! being very enjoyable. I usually prefer multi-fronted maps and I just happen to like the unorthodox design of this map.
My favorite CO is Sensei, because I loved copter spamming back on AW2. In AW:DS he has been considerably crippled in terms of copters, but I still like his powers because mech spamming can be so much (fund increasing) fun with the old geezer. But since he’s broken I rarely use him in AWBW. From the non-broken COs I like Sami the most, but my profile doesn’t resemble this clearly since she is often banned and when she’s available she often is a semi-optimal choice.
I’m not sure about favorite countries. I love green colors so I use Green Earth and Teal Galaxy often.
Walker: Did you think or do something as a newbie on the site that you look back on now and laugh at?
Abroxas: My very first game was against fdkanns in the old league. Of course he crushed me. I was not sure if it was polite to give up and to deny the opponent of the fun of beating up the remaining troops. So I asked him if I would be allowed give up. Retrospectively, that seems rather awkward to me. He replied positively, though. He was also so kind to give me some basic advices on my play. That helped a lot because I rarely played against other human players before.
Walker: What's the most memorable moment or game you've had on AWBW?
Abroxas: Well, the answer is mostly what I’ve written above. I’ve never lost so badly (though Black Mont-Blanc comes close to it) since then.
Walker: Do you have any goals for yourself on the site? What accomplishment would you be most proud of if you could achieve it?
Abroxas: I’d be very proud if I could manage to compete with the current top players of AWBW. My goal is to improve my game step by step.
Walker: Is there a part of your game that you think you need to improve on most? How do you try to improve and what do you think is most useful for your improvement?
Abroxas: I think I need to improve my capture phase because sometimes I end up slightly disadvantaged against routine players on maps on which it is not clear when exactly you skip nearby cities for contested properties and when not. I try to observe more ongoing games of competitive games (such as the ones of the League) to learn from others. The AWBW blog is also a promising source of inspiration.
Walker: Have you ever thought about designing maps for AWBW?
Abroxas: Yes, but I abandoned it soon. I was always lacking creativity and most time I spend on AWBW I invest in my ongoing games. I might give it a try, but most likely in remote future.
Walker: If there was one thing you'd add or change about AWBW, what would it be?
Abroxas: Since I like FoW, I wish for a bug-free FoW mode.
Thanks to Abroxas for participating! As always, if you'd be interested in being featured for the next Player Spotlight, please send me a PM.
Until next time,
Walker
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Global League Review 1/07/12
Sorry to everyone who might have been expecting a Global League Review last week, but it was a slow week for the league and there wasn't quite enough for an entire review. No doubt it was due in part to the new year and the end of the holiday season. But now we're picking it up again this week, with a surprising development in the top 5, and a considerable amount of movement in the top 10. It's also nice to see that the Global League is holding right around 125-130 players - currently at 127 at the moment - despite a steady stream of dropouts.
Global League Top 5
1. Diwa - 1147.26, 17-1-5 (Last review: 8)
Last week: 2-0-1
It's been a great week for our new #1 player, as he exploded up from 8th to 1st in the span of 2 days with a win over quizless and another against Duke of Blue Moon. The 49-point rating increase was just enough to barely place Diwa ahead of dorian5.
As for his games, the game against quizless was a Jake mirror on Shadows chase you endlessly (which is becoming one of my favorite maps, incidentally). The game remained fairly even with heavy fighting on the southern island, and then Diwa struck with Jake's SCOP first, delivering a game-ending blow to quizless. The game against Duke is one that I last time mentioned Duke had a great chance of winning. It was a fairly aggressive Hawke/Eagle match on Highway to Hell, with the two trading punches for much of the first 16 days. Then eventually Diwa began to gain ground on Duke's HQ front, leading to a large funds advantage and Duke's eventual resignation.
It remains to be seen how long Diwa can hang onto his lead spot. He has tough games currently against several of the other top league players, including Chilin-xiaoniao3, Walker, Black Mont-Blanc, and benbever, but with no games against any of the top 6 players, he might be able to hang on for a while. His most likely next game to finish is against itsmyflow, which is on day 9 on Puyo~.
2. dorian5 - 1147.10, 16-0-0 (Last review: 1)
Last week: 0-0-0
3. Ultra Storm - 1142.75, 13-0-0 (Last review: 2)
Last week: 0-0-0
Neither dorian5 or Ultra Storm have taken a second league game, leaving their game as the lone one between the two. And although Diwa has changed their battle from a fight between #1 and #2 to a fight between #2 and #3, the game between dorian5 and Ultra Storm will still ultimately decide who gets back up to the top spot. Another couple turns of the game have passed, but we can no longer view the replay as dorian5 has built a stealth (countered immediately by a fighter from Ultra). Ultra appears to be in bad shape, as dorian has won the southern island and is way ahead in funds (+5500) while about even in unit value on the field. Never count Ultra out for a comeback, but this one is certainly not going his way right now.
4. Hellraider - 1130.83, 10-0-0 (Last review: 3)
Last week: 0-0-0
Nothing new going on with Hellraider, as his lone game with Chilin-xiaoniao continues to be stalled by Chilin-xiaoniao's vacation. The last time Hellraider finished a league game was now over a month ago, and his current game is still only on day 4. I expect no updates here in the near future, although getting kicked from the top 3 could have an effect on the number of league games he's willing to play at one time.
5. felix45 - 1125.98, 12-2-1 (Last review: 4)
Last week: 0-0-0
No changes in Felix's record the last couple weeks either, although his game with Duke of Blue Moon on Rainy has progressed some. Felix holds a strong advantage and looks to be making a push towards Duke's HQ area, but the next round of SCOPs will likely decide the winner. Meanwhile, Felix is on the verge of victory in another game, this one against quizless, although he will have to wait until after quizless returns from vacation to claim the win. If Felix can manage those two wins, he will likely jump all the way to 1st in the league! I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him in the top 3 soon, regardless.
Best of the Rest
6. fdkanns - 1110.22, 27-5-0 (Last review: 6)
No changes for fdkanns since last review, but it may be worth keeping an eye on this dogfight between he and sarastro on Shangri-La. It's currently on day 12, and looking pretty even.
7. Chilin-xiaoniao3 - 1099.94, 29-4-0 (Last review: 7)
Still on vacation, nothing new going on.
8. Duke of Blue Moon - 1096.33, 29-9-1 (Last review: 5)
Duke's loss at the hands of Diwa has dropped him down a few spots, although he still is hanging around in the top 10. He has made a remarkable comeback in this game against Kiririn thanks to the power of Winter Fury, but will have to be careful in this game against YURA.
9. Ancient Paradise - 1086.84, 27-9-0 (Last review: 9)
Like Hellraider, Ancient Paradise only has one game running, and it's against Chilin-xiaoniao. Don't expect to see his rating changing any time soon either.
10. black_wave - 1083.40, 81-36-13 (Last review: 12)
The last time black_wave was in the top 10 was back on 10/16/11, but a recent string of wins has helped him leap back up to claim the final spot. He's gone 4-1-2 since the last review, with wins against MYM, TotalFire, and mxdcyw2000 among them. The loss was against quizless. Currently he has interesting games against SmackCakes and itsmyflow.
Almost There!
11. quizless - 1082.24, 48-24-10 (Last review: 13)
12. ANT13 - 1073.73, 31-9-7 (Last review: 10)
13. walkerboh01 - 1057.79, 14-2-1 (Last review: 11)
14. benbever - 1042.91, 4-3-5 (Last review: 14)
15. TotalFire - 1039.20, 38-15-17 (Last review: 17)
Dropping Out
Black Mont-Blanc - Dropped from 15th to 16th place (0-0-0 since last review)
Notable Newbie
Deaninator - 942.54, 7-0-0
With 418 games played on the site, Deaninator has obviously spent quite a lot of time on the site previously. However, he's new to the Global League, having just entered the league during the last review and sitting at 0-0-0. Since then, he has rattled off 7 straight wins, elevating him to the lofty position of #31 in the league. Let's take a look at those wins:
12/29 - Mr--Clean resigns what seems to be a fairly even game on City of Storms.
12/30 - Win by boot over carlos98342.
12/31 - Win by boot over Longinus_SP.
1/01 - Win by boot over bh.bh.
1/01 - Mr--Clean resigns again, but it's a more lopsided game on Highway to Hell this time.
1/02 - Lolabunny bites the dust[/url] in a game on Shangri-La.
1/06 - HCG becomes the 7th victim in a blowout on nb4DS.
3 wins by boot are certainly good for a rating boost, and makes the 7-0-0 start a bit less impressive. However, 3 good wins over solid mid-level players in lolabunny and Mr--Clean suggest Deaninator should not be taken lightly. Jury's still out on just how good Deaninator is, although a tough matchup with taviroww will likely give a good idea.
By the Numbers
7 - Undefeated players with more than 5 wins. They are: dorian5 (16 wins), Ultra Storm (13 wins), itsmyflow (11 wins), Hellraider (10 wins), Black Mont-Blanc (8 wins), Deaninator (7 wins), and ichbinsehselber (6 wins).
1 - "Chilin" account left in the league, which belongs to Chilin-xiaoniao3. There were as many as 7 or 8 in the early days of the league.
975 - Rating required to crack the top 25 of the league. On 12/13/11, a rating of only 960 was required.
In Other News...
As of January 1st, 2012, the top 3 of the Global League will be inducted to the AWBW Hall of Fame, if they can manage to hold their spots for 2 consecutive weeks. Right now Diwa has been holding 1st place for one day (since January 6th), and dorian5 and Ultra Storm have been holding at least 2nd and 3rd place for 6 days (since January 1st) respectively. Hellraider had been in 3rd until January 6th, when he was ousted by Diwa.
There were several players outside of the top 15 who have made good pushes up the rankings in the last two weeks. Most notable were:
1. Deaninator - Rating: +142.54, Standings: +65 (currently #31)
2. SD3 - Rating: +873.21, Standings: +42 (currently at #57)
3. Taviroww - Rating: +68.80, Standings: +24 (currently at #36)
4. Cereal Killer - Rating: +48.02, Standings: +15 (currently #28)
5. Shompiador_kalabaza - Rating: +48.08, Standings: +13 (currently at #38)
Until next time,
Walker
Global League Top 5
1. Diwa - 1147.26, 17-1-5 (Last review: 8)
Last week: 2-0-1
It's been a great week for our new #1 player, as he exploded up from 8th to 1st in the span of 2 days with a win over quizless and another against Duke of Blue Moon. The 49-point rating increase was just enough to barely place Diwa ahead of dorian5.
As for his games, the game against quizless was a Jake mirror on Shadows chase you endlessly (which is becoming one of my favorite maps, incidentally). The game remained fairly even with heavy fighting on the southern island, and then Diwa struck with Jake's SCOP first, delivering a game-ending blow to quizless. The game against Duke is one that I last time mentioned Duke had a great chance of winning. It was a fairly aggressive Hawke/Eagle match on Highway to Hell, with the two trading punches for much of the first 16 days. Then eventually Diwa began to gain ground on Duke's HQ front, leading to a large funds advantage and Duke's eventual resignation.
It remains to be seen how long Diwa can hang onto his lead spot. He has tough games currently against several of the other top league players, including Chilin-xiaoniao3, Walker, Black Mont-Blanc, and benbever, but with no games against any of the top 6 players, he might be able to hang on for a while. His most likely next game to finish is against itsmyflow, which is on day 9 on Puyo~.
2. dorian5 - 1147.10, 16-0-0 (Last review: 1)
Last week: 0-0-0
3. Ultra Storm - 1142.75, 13-0-0 (Last review: 2)
Last week: 0-0-0
Neither dorian5 or Ultra Storm have taken a second league game, leaving their game as the lone one between the two. And although Diwa has changed their battle from a fight between #1 and #2 to a fight between #2 and #3, the game between dorian5 and Ultra Storm will still ultimately decide who gets back up to the top spot. Another couple turns of the game have passed, but we can no longer view the replay as dorian5 has built a stealth (countered immediately by a fighter from Ultra). Ultra appears to be in bad shape, as dorian has won the southern island and is way ahead in funds (+5500) while about even in unit value on the field. Never count Ultra out for a comeback, but this one is certainly not going his way right now.
4. Hellraider - 1130.83, 10-0-0 (Last review: 3)
Last week: 0-0-0
Nothing new going on with Hellraider, as his lone game with Chilin-xiaoniao continues to be stalled by Chilin-xiaoniao's vacation. The last time Hellraider finished a league game was now over a month ago, and his current game is still only on day 4. I expect no updates here in the near future, although getting kicked from the top 3 could have an effect on the number of league games he's willing to play at one time.
5. felix45 - 1125.98, 12-2-1 (Last review: 4)
Last week: 0-0-0
No changes in Felix's record the last couple weeks either, although his game with Duke of Blue Moon on Rainy has progressed some. Felix holds a strong advantage and looks to be making a push towards Duke's HQ area, but the next round of SCOPs will likely decide the winner. Meanwhile, Felix is on the verge of victory in another game, this one against quizless, although he will have to wait until after quizless returns from vacation to claim the win. If Felix can manage those two wins, he will likely jump all the way to 1st in the league! I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him in the top 3 soon, regardless.
Best of the Rest
6. fdkanns - 1110.22, 27-5-0 (Last review: 6)
No changes for fdkanns since last review, but it may be worth keeping an eye on this dogfight between he and sarastro on Shangri-La. It's currently on day 12, and looking pretty even.
7. Chilin-xiaoniao3 - 1099.94, 29-4-0 (Last review: 7)
Still on vacation, nothing new going on.
8. Duke of Blue Moon - 1096.33, 29-9-1 (Last review: 5)
Duke's loss at the hands of Diwa has dropped him down a few spots, although he still is hanging around in the top 10. He has made a remarkable comeback in this game against Kiririn thanks to the power of Winter Fury, but will have to be careful in this game against YURA.
9. Ancient Paradise - 1086.84, 27-9-0 (Last review: 9)
Like Hellraider, Ancient Paradise only has one game running, and it's against Chilin-xiaoniao. Don't expect to see his rating changing any time soon either.
10. black_wave - 1083.40, 81-36-13 (Last review: 12)
The last time black_wave was in the top 10 was back on 10/16/11, but a recent string of wins has helped him leap back up to claim the final spot. He's gone 4-1-2 since the last review, with wins against MYM, TotalFire, and mxdcyw2000 among them. The loss was against quizless. Currently he has interesting games against SmackCakes and itsmyflow.
Almost There!
11. quizless - 1082.24, 48-24-10 (Last review: 13)
12. ANT13 - 1073.73, 31-9-7 (Last review: 10)
13. walkerboh01 - 1057.79, 14-2-1 (Last review: 11)
14. benbever - 1042.91, 4-3-5 (Last review: 14)
15. TotalFire - 1039.20, 38-15-17 (Last review: 17)
Dropping Out
Black Mont-Blanc - Dropped from 15th to 16th place (0-0-0 since last review)
Notable Newbie
Deaninator - 942.54, 7-0-0
With 418 games played on the site, Deaninator has obviously spent quite a lot of time on the site previously. However, he's new to the Global League, having just entered the league during the last review and sitting at 0-0-0. Since then, he has rattled off 7 straight wins, elevating him to the lofty position of #31 in the league. Let's take a look at those wins:
12/29 - Mr--Clean resigns what seems to be a fairly even game on City of Storms.
12/30 - Win by boot over carlos98342.
12/31 - Win by boot over Longinus_SP.
1/01 - Win by boot over bh.bh.
1/01 - Mr--Clean resigns again, but it's a more lopsided game on Highway to Hell this time.
1/02 - Lolabunny bites the dust[/url] in a game on Shangri-La.
1/06 - HCG becomes the 7th victim in a blowout on nb4DS.
3 wins by boot are certainly good for a rating boost, and makes the 7-0-0 start a bit less impressive. However, 3 good wins over solid mid-level players in lolabunny and Mr--Clean suggest Deaninator should not be taken lightly. Jury's still out on just how good Deaninator is, although a tough matchup with taviroww will likely give a good idea.
By the Numbers
7 - Undefeated players with more than 5 wins. They are: dorian5 (16 wins), Ultra Storm (13 wins), itsmyflow (11 wins), Hellraider (10 wins), Black Mont-Blanc (8 wins), Deaninator (7 wins), and ichbinsehselber (6 wins).
1 - "Chilin" account left in the league, which belongs to Chilin-xiaoniao3. There were as many as 7 or 8 in the early days of the league.
975 - Rating required to crack the top 25 of the league. On 12/13/11, a rating of only 960 was required.
In Other News...
As of January 1st, 2012, the top 3 of the Global League will be inducted to the AWBW Hall of Fame, if they can manage to hold their spots for 2 consecutive weeks. Right now Diwa has been holding 1st place for one day (since January 6th), and dorian5 and Ultra Storm have been holding at least 2nd and 3rd place for 6 days (since January 1st) respectively. Hellraider had been in 3rd until January 6th, when he was ousted by Diwa.
There were several players outside of the top 15 who have made good pushes up the rankings in the last two weeks. Most notable were:
1. Deaninator - Rating: +142.54, Standings: +65 (currently #31)
2. SD3 - Rating: +873.21, Standings: +42 (currently at #57)
3. Taviroww - Rating: +68.80, Standings: +24 (currently at #36)
4. Cereal Killer - Rating: +48.02, Standings: +15 (currently #28)
5. Shompiador_kalabaza - Rating: +48.08, Standings: +13 (currently at #38)
Until next time,
Walker
Friday, December 30, 2011
Turn Review 12/30/11
Duke of the Blue Moon vs felix45 - Day 10
The (hopefully) eagerly awaited game review will still have to wait a while because of "time restraints". To make up for that, I present a mini-version of the game review, the turn review.
The situation at hand:
It is the Duke's turn in a game which is for our intents and purposes even. He has lost the fight for the pair of usually contested properties, but managed to snatch felix's middle city. Now the ball is on him to defend the property and make use of the positional advantage it gives. The Duke chooses the following course of action -
- and prompty drops the ball, as he gives felix a great opportunity to attack, resulting in this:
Now the question at hand is, what should he have done instead? Let us first evaluate the goals of that particular turn. At the start of day 10, his formation in the west is fairly vulnerable. His artillery can be attacked easily, he has not completely connected the units on the different sides of the mountain range and he needs to keep control over the city he has captured. In the east he looks fairly safe for now due to felix having invested in an additional arty and a preemptive AA.
The main focus of this post will lie in the west, but for now I will discuss the eastern situation a bit. While the Duke did not make himself vulnerable to a direct attack there, there were still some questionable decisions involved. First off, building the copter makes little sense. He has already lost his ability to threaten both sides of the mountain range because felix has captured the contested property, so a major advantage of the copter, the mobility, is lost. More importantly though, he neglected to ascertain his control over his middle city. Parking a tank on it is nice, but he also gave felix the possibility to easily threaten it with an unexposed arty. Now felix exposed his artillery anyways, ultimately resulting in a huge battle, but let us ignore that fact. To avoid this situation where a protected arty points onto the property, the best course of action would have been to place the YC artillery 1N of the city, while shielding it with the remaining units.
Another advantage of such a turn (picture later) would be more offensive tank placement and therefore better control over the area between the mountains and the shoal area. Furthermore, building 2 vehicles would have been superior to building the copter in terms of firepower and defence, making it unnecessary to divert another tank to shielding the copter.
So much for the east. Now, onto the other front. As mentioned before, the Duke has to find a formation that prevents felix from launching any efficient attack. The biggest threat is a copter attack coupled with blocking the AA from reaching it, which is also what ultimately happened in the game. This is mainly caused by the mountain range, which makes maneuvering the AA fairly difficult since it has to cover the units on both sides of it. The obvious solution? Simply move all units onto one side of the mountain range. The result I came to:
It is easy to understand that there is little need to focus on felix's outer city for now. It already belongs to him, so there is little reason to keep it under artylock. There is also no attack coming from that direction, so losing a bit of positioning there does not matter. This particular turn also picks off an additional infantry and is a huge positional gain compared to before. Assuming that felix does not attack, he will have to retreat and choose between one of two evils. Either the arty stays at its current location protecting the city, which will result in him losing a bit more position while allowing the Duke to place his units even better, or moving the arty over and giving up the outer city in the process. The first option is most likely preferable, although still not optimal.
Now of course felix would also have the option to attack. The YC artillery is technically vulnerable and can be attacked by the copter (not by the recon). However, that plus the walling infantry would be all that YC loses in that exchange. In retaliation, he could kill 4 infantry and the copter while retaining his position. Neither a new tank nor a new copter could enter the fight immediately, leaving felix with a recon, a tank, 2 infantry and an arty in an awkward position. He wouldn't be able to launch a good attack with that, but if he retreats at that point he'd have lost about twice as much as his opponent in the exchange before. As a result, the formation showed before is most likely the best that YC could have chosen. Not only is it sound defensively, it also opens up a whole load of new possibilities by virtue of being in such an offensive position. It would even be possible to make a rush towards the BH HQ if BH decided to go for YCs airport, effectively even restricting the other front a bit.
A few last words towards what should be built at the end of the turn. As I said before, the copter is a suboptimal choice as it has little immediate offensive potential and basically validates the preemptive AA. By not building the copter now, BH has a near useless AA that he can't even expose, as its destruction would be met with a newly built copter. With 15k, the basic options are 2 tanks, 2 arties and tank + arty. Mechs are not needed in this situation as they reach the front too slowly and have no synergy with the CO. I daresay that 2 arties is not good as well, because the west could really need more than a sole tank to sustain the offense. So one fresh unit should be a tank on the western base. As for the second one, it probably is a matter of preference and style. Many will feel uncomfortable with not building a vehicle on the weak base, but the AA and lack of tank really limit BH's attack opportunities, making a second tank (two arties is more than enough for that front) in the west viable. Personally, I would have most likely stuck with tank west + arty east either way though.
Signed,
Hellraider
The (hopefully) eagerly awaited game review will still have to wait a while because of "time restraints". To make up for that, I present a mini-version of the game review, the turn review.
The situation at hand:
It is the Duke's turn in a game which is for our intents and purposes even. He has lost the fight for the pair of usually contested properties, but managed to snatch felix's middle city. Now the ball is on him to defend the property and make use of the positional advantage it gives. The Duke chooses the following course of action -
- and prompty drops the ball, as he gives felix a great opportunity to attack, resulting in this:
Now the question at hand is, what should he have done instead? Let us first evaluate the goals of that particular turn. At the start of day 10, his formation in the west is fairly vulnerable. His artillery can be attacked easily, he has not completely connected the units on the different sides of the mountain range and he needs to keep control over the city he has captured. In the east he looks fairly safe for now due to felix having invested in an additional arty and a preemptive AA.
The main focus of this post will lie in the west, but for now I will discuss the eastern situation a bit. While the Duke did not make himself vulnerable to a direct attack there, there were still some questionable decisions involved. First off, building the copter makes little sense. He has already lost his ability to threaten both sides of the mountain range because felix has captured the contested property, so a major advantage of the copter, the mobility, is lost. More importantly though, he neglected to ascertain his control over his middle city. Parking a tank on it is nice, but he also gave felix the possibility to easily threaten it with an unexposed arty. Now felix exposed his artillery anyways, ultimately resulting in a huge battle, but let us ignore that fact. To avoid this situation where a protected arty points onto the property, the best course of action would have been to place the YC artillery 1N of the city, while shielding it with the remaining units.
Another advantage of such a turn (picture later) would be more offensive tank placement and therefore better control over the area between the mountains and the shoal area. Furthermore, building 2 vehicles would have been superior to building the copter in terms of firepower and defence, making it unnecessary to divert another tank to shielding the copter.
So much for the east. Now, onto the other front. As mentioned before, the Duke has to find a formation that prevents felix from launching any efficient attack. The biggest threat is a copter attack coupled with blocking the AA from reaching it, which is also what ultimately happened in the game. This is mainly caused by the mountain range, which makes maneuvering the AA fairly difficult since it has to cover the units on both sides of it. The obvious solution? Simply move all units onto one side of the mountain range. The result I came to:
It is easy to understand that there is little need to focus on felix's outer city for now. It already belongs to him, so there is little reason to keep it under artylock. There is also no attack coming from that direction, so losing a bit of positioning there does not matter. This particular turn also picks off an additional infantry and is a huge positional gain compared to before. Assuming that felix does not attack, he will have to retreat and choose between one of two evils. Either the arty stays at its current location protecting the city, which will result in him losing a bit more position while allowing the Duke to place his units even better, or moving the arty over and giving up the outer city in the process. The first option is most likely preferable, although still not optimal.
Now of course felix would also have the option to attack. The YC artillery is technically vulnerable and can be attacked by the copter (not by the recon). However, that plus the walling infantry would be all that YC loses in that exchange. In retaliation, he could kill 4 infantry and the copter while retaining his position. Neither a new tank nor a new copter could enter the fight immediately, leaving felix with a recon, a tank, 2 infantry and an arty in an awkward position. He wouldn't be able to launch a good attack with that, but if he retreats at that point he'd have lost about twice as much as his opponent in the exchange before. As a result, the formation showed before is most likely the best that YC could have chosen. Not only is it sound defensively, it also opens up a whole load of new possibilities by virtue of being in such an offensive position. It would even be possible to make a rush towards the BH HQ if BH decided to go for YCs airport, effectively even restricting the other front a bit.
A few last words towards what should be built at the end of the turn. As I said before, the copter is a suboptimal choice as it has little immediate offensive potential and basically validates the preemptive AA. By not building the copter now, BH has a near useless AA that he can't even expose, as its destruction would be met with a newly built copter. With 15k, the basic options are 2 tanks, 2 arties and tank + arty. Mechs are not needed in this situation as they reach the front too slowly and have no synergy with the CO. I daresay that 2 arties is not good as well, because the west could really need more than a sole tank to sustain the offense. So one fresh unit should be a tank on the western base. As for the second one, it probably is a matter of preference and style. Many will feel uncomfortable with not building a vehicle on the weak base, but the AA and lack of tank really limit BH's attack opportunities, making a second tank (two arties is more than enough for that front) in the west viable. Personally, I would have most likely stuck with tank west + arty east either way though.
Signed,
Hellraider
Monday, December 26, 2011
Global League Review 12/26/11
Merry Christmas! Whatever holiday you may celebrate, I hope everyone is enjoying themselves this time of year.
The Global League is doing quite well, and our player count is at 130 this week, up 7 from last review. The last week was quiet for the most part in the league, but we do have a new entrant into the top 5. Thanks to a charitable boot from Chilin-xiaoniao3, felix45 has jumped up two places to grab the #4 spot in the standings. It seems that the top 10 in general was getting into the holiday spirit this week, as Chilin-Xiaoniao and Duke of Blue Moon also gifted points to black_wave via boot. Despite all of the free wins handed to him, black_wave only managed to move up two spots though, from #14 to #12 this week. Duke's boot wasn't quite enough to drop him from the top 5, but fdkanns is now right on his heels, a mere 0.6 points back. In the meantime, the back three of the top 10 all managed to win games this week, although their order in the standings remains unchanged. There's also a new face in the top 15, as quizless jumps up from #19 to currently claim the #13 spot at the expense of TotalFire.
And with that, let's take a look at the top 5!
Global League Top 5
1. dorian5 - 1147.10, 16-0-0 (Last review: 1)
Last week: 0-0-0
2. Ultra Storm - 1142.75, 13-0-0 (Last review: 2)
Last week: 0-0-0
Dorian and Ultra Storm's rankings are frozen for now, as the two are still engaged in a showdown for the top league spot. Last time we checked in, the game was on day 10 and a battle-heavy capture phase was just finishing up. As you can see below, dorian chose to attack in the south on day 10, but Ultra responded well to the ill-advised attack and decimated both of dorian's copters.
Unfortunately for Ultra Storm, despite contesting dorian's city early and dealing more damage to dorian overall, he still finds himself down in both funding and vehicles because of Sasha's day-to-day funding advantage. The game is still very tight, but if Ultra fails to finish capturing his properties shortly, dorian's funding advantage may prove too much to overcome.
3. Hellraider - 1130.83, 10-0-0 (Last review: 4)
Last week: 0-0-0
Nothing new going on for Hellraider this week. He wasn't lucky enough to be a beneficiary of the free points Chilin-xiaoniao was handing out, but still benefited indirectly as he moved up to 3rd place. It's likely going to be a while before we see any change in Hellraider's rating, unless he decides to take a higher game count.
4. felix45 - 1125.98, 12-2-1 (Last review: 6)
Last Week: 1-0-0
Felix is surely in high spirits this week, having been boosted up quite nicely from the free win against Chilin-xiaoniao3. He's also in great position to win 2 of his 3 remaining current games, another against xiaoniao and one against Duke of Blue Moon. Duke certainly still has a chance in that game and you can never really count Olaf out thanks to his SCOP, but I feel fairly confident in predicting felix to close that one out.
5. Duke of Blue Moon - 1110.80, 29-8-0 (Last review: 5)
Last Week: 0-1-0
Despite his boot against black_wave, Duke managed to hang onto his spot in the top 5 courtesy of xiaoniao's drop. As I mentioned last review, he is poised for a large drop though. Even if he can manage the aforementioned comeback against felix, he is still in a bad situation against Chilin-xiaoniao, and in an even worse situation against Kiririn.
On the bright side for Duke, he does still have a very good chance of winning in his game against Diwa and is playing 2 games against lower-ranked opponents as well (YURA and itsmyflow). With that in mind, a large drop may only be temporary, and at the very least he can probably salvage some ranking with a couple easier games.
Best of the Rest
6. fdkanns - 1110.22, 27-5-0 (Last review: 7)
Fdkanns wrapped up the win against black_wave this week, although it wasn't quite enough to boost him past Duke of Blue Moon back into the top 5. He is looking to continue moving up with 2 new games starting against ANT13 and sarastro (#10 and #22 in the league respectively).
7. Chilin-xiaoniao3 - 1099.94, 29-4-0 (Last review: 3)
Not a good week for Chilin-xiaoniao, as he dropped 35 points in rating and 4 places in the standings. He has since put up the vacation flag, but now he has some work to do if he wants to reclaim his lofty league ranking. He certainly has plenty of chances to do it, with winnable games against Ancient Paradise, Duke of Blue Moon, and SmackCakes.
8. Diwa - 1098.61, 15-1-4 (Last review: 8)
Diwa also had a prosperous week, managing to complete a win over julberndt while agreeing to
draw against sarastro. Keep an eye on this game with black_wave, as it looks to be developing into an interesting match.
9. Ancient Paradise - 1086.84, 27-9-0 (Last review: 9)
Ancient Paradise had a relatively uneventful week, wrapping up a straight-forward win over raubvogel. Now his lone game against Chilin-xiaoniao is the only one running, and he'll have to work to prevent a loss there.
10. ANT13 - 1073.73, 31-9-6 (Last review: 10)
Like Diwa and Ancient Paradise, ANT13 also came out ahead this week, managing a win over Haxxson mid-week. He is in great position to put together a nice winning streak, with a clear advantage in games against benbever and against walkerboh01.
Almost There!
11. walkerboh01 - 1057.79, 14-2-1 (Last review: 11)
12. black_wave - 1053.13, 77-35-11 (Last review: 14)
13. quizless - 1052.24, 43-23-10 (Last review: 19)
14. benbever - 1042.91, 4-3-1 (Last review: 13)
15. Black Mont-Blanc - 1034.99, 8-0-0 (Last review: 15)
Dropping Out
TotalFire - Dropped from 12th to 17th place (1-2-1 since last review)
By the Numbers
14 - Players currently at 800, which is the most we've had in quite a while.
2 - Players with more than 50 wins. Black_wave has 77 wins and 77salamence has 75 wins currently, although the two also have a combined 80 losses as well.
4 - Players in the top 20 with 50 or fewer games played on the site. They are: Duke of Blue Moon (#5) - 50 games, Ancient Paradise (#9) - 39 games, MYM (#16) - 39 games, Kiririn (#18) - 16 games. Therefore, they are all under heavy suspicion of being double accounts!
1031 - Views on the AWBW Blog from blogspot.com! Thanks to everyone who follows the blog!
In Other News...
On 9/27, I wrote: "21-0-1 - Combined record of the top 4 Japanese players (dorian5, Black Mont-Blanc, japanj, and akiyoshi)"
Today, the Japanese players are no longer undefeated, but are still doing quite well in the league. Their cumulative record is 46-5-3, and if you take akiyoshi out, they are 32-1-0. That is quite dominant, with the only loss coming from japanj's recent loss to SM Ephraim.
The next most dominant league performance in terms of record belongs to the Austrians. They only have 2 players in the league (Hellraider and ichbinsehselber), but they are a combined 16-0-0. Not quite as impressive as 32-1-0, in my opinion, but still quite good nonetheless.
Last review I also picked a few players to move up in the standings soon. If you remember, two of them were:
"78. Shompiador_kalabaza - 826.05, 2-1-0
90. taviroww - 810.34, 3-2-0"
This week here are their respective records and ratings:
50. Shompiador_kalabaza - 880.07, 4-1-0
59. taviroww - 866.60, 6-2-0.
Yes, I am apparently just that good (watch them both plummet now...).
I also wanted to mention a few players who are currently dropped out of the league, but would be in the top 25 if they were to join right now:
7. Kamuscha - 1102.18, 16-2-1
11. Roswell the Black Rose - 1065.34, 35-15-12
18. Red11 - 1027.17, 10-0-0
21. tale - 987.23, 43-30-4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And just a reminder that GT2 signups and January Cup signups are currently open! Check the Tournaments forum if you're interested.
Until next time,
Walker
The Global League is doing quite well, and our player count is at 130 this week, up 7 from last review. The last week was quiet for the most part in the league, but we do have a new entrant into the top 5. Thanks to a charitable boot from Chilin-xiaoniao3, felix45 has jumped up two places to grab the #4 spot in the standings. It seems that the top 10 in general was getting into the holiday spirit this week, as Chilin-Xiaoniao and Duke of Blue Moon also gifted points to black_wave via boot. Despite all of the free wins handed to him, black_wave only managed to move up two spots though, from #14 to #12 this week. Duke's boot wasn't quite enough to drop him from the top 5, but fdkanns is now right on his heels, a mere 0.6 points back. In the meantime, the back three of the top 10 all managed to win games this week, although their order in the standings remains unchanged. There's also a new face in the top 15, as quizless jumps up from #19 to currently claim the #13 spot at the expense of TotalFire.
And with that, let's take a look at the top 5!
Global League Top 5
1. dorian5 - 1147.10, 16-0-0 (Last review: 1)
Last week: 0-0-0
2. Ultra Storm - 1142.75, 13-0-0 (Last review: 2)
Last week: 0-0-0
Dorian and Ultra Storm's rankings are frozen for now, as the two are still engaged in a showdown for the top league spot. Last time we checked in, the game was on day 10 and a battle-heavy capture phase was just finishing up. As you can see below, dorian chose to attack in the south on day 10, but Ultra responded well to the ill-advised attack and decimated both of dorian's copters.
Unfortunately for Ultra Storm, despite contesting dorian's city early and dealing more damage to dorian overall, he still finds himself down in both funding and vehicles because of Sasha's day-to-day funding advantage. The game is still very tight, but if Ultra fails to finish capturing his properties shortly, dorian's funding advantage may prove too much to overcome.
3. Hellraider - 1130.83, 10-0-0 (Last review: 4)
Last week: 0-0-0
Nothing new going on for Hellraider this week. He wasn't lucky enough to be a beneficiary of the free points Chilin-xiaoniao was handing out, but still benefited indirectly as he moved up to 3rd place. It's likely going to be a while before we see any change in Hellraider's rating, unless he decides to take a higher game count.
4. felix45 - 1125.98, 12-2-1 (Last review: 6)
Last Week: 1-0-0
Felix is surely in high spirits this week, having been boosted up quite nicely from the free win against Chilin-xiaoniao3. He's also in great position to win 2 of his 3 remaining current games, another against xiaoniao and one against Duke of Blue Moon. Duke certainly still has a chance in that game and you can never really count Olaf out thanks to his SCOP, but I feel fairly confident in predicting felix to close that one out.
5. Duke of Blue Moon - 1110.80, 29-8-0 (Last review: 5)
Last Week: 0-1-0
Despite his boot against black_wave, Duke managed to hang onto his spot in the top 5 courtesy of xiaoniao's drop. As I mentioned last review, he is poised for a large drop though. Even if he can manage the aforementioned comeback against felix, he is still in a bad situation against Chilin-xiaoniao, and in an even worse situation against Kiririn.
On the bright side for Duke, he does still have a very good chance of winning in his game against Diwa and is playing 2 games against lower-ranked opponents as well (YURA and itsmyflow). With that in mind, a large drop may only be temporary, and at the very least he can probably salvage some ranking with a couple easier games.
Best of the Rest
6. fdkanns - 1110.22, 27-5-0 (Last review: 7)
Fdkanns wrapped up the win against black_wave this week, although it wasn't quite enough to boost him past Duke of Blue Moon back into the top 5. He is looking to continue moving up with 2 new games starting against ANT13 and sarastro (#10 and #22 in the league respectively).
7. Chilin-xiaoniao3 - 1099.94, 29-4-0 (Last review: 3)
Not a good week for Chilin-xiaoniao, as he dropped 35 points in rating and 4 places in the standings. He has since put up the vacation flag, but now he has some work to do if he wants to reclaim his lofty league ranking. He certainly has plenty of chances to do it, with winnable games against Ancient Paradise, Duke of Blue Moon, and SmackCakes.
8. Diwa - 1098.61, 15-1-4 (Last review: 8)
Diwa also had a prosperous week, managing to complete a win over julberndt while agreeing to
draw against sarastro. Keep an eye on this game with black_wave, as it looks to be developing into an interesting match.
9. Ancient Paradise - 1086.84, 27-9-0 (Last review: 9)
Ancient Paradise had a relatively uneventful week, wrapping up a straight-forward win over raubvogel. Now his lone game against Chilin-xiaoniao is the only one running, and he'll have to work to prevent a loss there.
10. ANT13 - 1073.73, 31-9-6 (Last review: 10)
Like Diwa and Ancient Paradise, ANT13 also came out ahead this week, managing a win over Haxxson mid-week. He is in great position to put together a nice winning streak, with a clear advantage in games against benbever and against walkerboh01.
Almost There!
11. walkerboh01 - 1057.79, 14-2-1 (Last review: 11)
12. black_wave - 1053.13, 77-35-11 (Last review: 14)
13. quizless - 1052.24, 43-23-10 (Last review: 19)
14. benbever - 1042.91, 4-3-1 (Last review: 13)
15. Black Mont-Blanc - 1034.99, 8-0-0 (Last review: 15)
Dropping Out
TotalFire - Dropped from 12th to 17th place (1-2-1 since last review)
By the Numbers
14 - Players currently at 800, which is the most we've had in quite a while.
2 - Players with more than 50 wins. Black_wave has 77 wins and 77salamence has 75 wins currently, although the two also have a combined 80 losses as well.
4 - Players in the top 20 with 50 or fewer games played on the site. They are: Duke of Blue Moon (#5) - 50 games, Ancient Paradise (#9) - 39 games, MYM (#16) - 39 games, Kiririn (#18) - 16 games. Therefore, they are all under heavy suspicion of being double accounts!
1031 - Views on the AWBW Blog from blogspot.com! Thanks to everyone who follows the blog!
In Other News...
On 9/27, I wrote: "21-0-1 - Combined record of the top 4 Japanese players (dorian5, Black Mont-Blanc, japanj, and akiyoshi)"
Today, the Japanese players are no longer undefeated, but are still doing quite well in the league. Their cumulative record is 46-5-3, and if you take akiyoshi out, they are 32-1-0. That is quite dominant, with the only loss coming from japanj's recent loss to SM Ephraim.
The next most dominant league performance in terms of record belongs to the Austrians. They only have 2 players in the league (Hellraider and ichbinsehselber), but they are a combined 16-0-0. Not quite as impressive as 32-1-0, in my opinion, but still quite good nonetheless.
Last review I also picked a few players to move up in the standings soon. If you remember, two of them were:
"78. Shompiador_kalabaza - 826.05, 2-1-0
90. taviroww - 810.34, 3-2-0"
This week here are their respective records and ratings:
50. Shompiador_kalabaza - 880.07, 4-1-0
59. taviroww - 866.60, 6-2-0.
Yes, I am apparently just that good (watch them both plummet now...).
I also wanted to mention a few players who are currently dropped out of the league, but would be in the top 25 if they were to join right now:
7. Kamuscha - 1102.18, 16-2-1
11. Roswell the Black Rose - 1065.34, 35-15-12
18. Red11 - 1027.17, 10-0-0
21. tale - 987.23, 43-30-4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And just a reminder that GT2 signups and January Cup signups are currently open! Check the Tournaments forum if you're interested.
Until next time,
Walker
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Player Spotlight 12/24/11
Welcome to a new feature on the AWBW Blog called the Player Spotlight. There's a lot of interesting people on this site, and it's hard to learn much about them from just playing games against them. So from time to time we'll be taking a closer look at a player on AWBW in order to get to know them a bit better. Today I'm quite pleased to shine a little light on this week's spotlight player: Desklamp!
Introduction
Desklamp is a 19 year-old college student who lives in the U.S. Besides AW, he plays Starcraft and enjoys playing board games such as Agricola or Puerto Rico with his friends. He also played tournament chess when he was in high school, and still plays chess now, though not as much as he used to.
On AWBW, Desklamp is fairly new but shows promise for someone with such a low game count. Desklamp has only played 65 games on the site, but has nevertheless done quite well in the Global League so far, posting a record of 16-8-0 and currently is in 21st place out of 131 players. He is also participating in the Colosseum in Division 3, and has gone 1-2-0 in three games against some tough competition. I would rank Desklamp somewhere in the upper mid-level of AWBW players, but he's still improving and I would not be surprised at all to see him break into the top ranks within the next six months.
Games and Recent Results
Desklamp has been doing well lately in his games, and is on a 3-game win streak in the Global League since his last loss, against ymouba on 12/06. He has won against headphone on 12/10, against marxistplot on 12/21, and against TotalFire on 12/21. His other recent loss was a High Funds Colosseum game against TGAL05 on 12/15.
He's currently playing interesting games against:
Lalann in the Colosseum
mxdcyw2000 in the Global League
akiyoshi in the Global League
Interview
I also asked Desklamp some questions about himself and his experiences on AWBW. Here were his replies:
Walker: How did you choose the name "Desklamp"? Is there any significance or meaning behind it?
Desklamp: "Desklamp" is a screen name I chose for myself a long time ago, when I was about 10 years old. There's no significance behind the word itself--at the time, I found it a funny name.
Walker: How did you get interested in AW / AWBW?
Desklamp: I started played AW2 when I was about 12. I remember liking the game a lot, but eventually becoming frustrated with the AI, which was constantly throwing away its units (putting units in the range of indirects, move B copters to where A-Airs could shoot them, etc). Later, I also realized that infantry were extremely strong, and that it was generally possible to win by choosing Grit and building nothing but infantry and artillery. I wanted to play against other people, but the startup cost of teaching someone to play was way too much.
One of my friends who I live with later told me about AWBW after we discovered that we both played AW. (He's Haxxson on the site). I realized right away that this was precisely what I'd wanted--now I could play against opponents who didn't constantly make trivial mistakes, the maps were intelligently made so that spamming infantry wasn't possible, and I didn't even have to wait for my opponent to move each time, since I could just check in once a day and make my move!
Walker: Which AW cartridge game did you enjoy the most?
Desklamp: I most enjoyed AW2, although it's probably just because it's the first one I played on. I liked the fact that unlike in AW:DS, where you could use "boosts" on each level in the campaign, each level you played was completely independent from each other level.
Walker: Do you have a favorite map? A favorite CO to use?
Desklamp: Unorthodox Team Diplomacy is an extremely clever idea. I'm in the middle of a game on it right now--it takes a long time to move because of all the bases, but other than that, it seems like a very well-designed and thought-provoking map.
As for favorite COs, I think I like Sami more than most people because I tend to take her whenever she is not banned and Sturm/Von Bolt aren't legal--I'm perhaps a little bit too enamored with her, but I'm impressed by her SCOP, which is the only SCOP capable of winning the game in a single turn often gets you quite a few properties even when it doesn't do that. But, honestly, I think my real "favorite CO" is usually the highest-tier non-banned CO.
Walker: If you could meet any CO in real life, who would it be?
Desklamp: Sonja. She plays AW like a good game of chess. She tries to play a tight game, but she also likes to win in clever ways, and she tries to predict her opponent's strategy.
Walker: What was something you thought/did when you first joined that you look back on and laugh at now?
Desklamp: When I played AW2 against the AI, I had decided that my two favorite COs were Grit and Colin--Grit because artilleries comboed so well with infantry, and Colin because his guys were cheaper and weaker, but I realized that being weaker didn't make your units worse at some things, like capturing, transport, or meat-shielding. (I also liked Colin's COP.) Because I concluded that that made Colin good, and Kanbei felt symmetrical to Colin, I concluded that Kanbei must be as bad as Colin is good. This made me pretty confused when I first started playing on the site ("Why is Kanbei always banned?").
Walker: If you had one piece of advice for new players, you would tell them...?
Desklamp: Huge tanks aren't as great as they seem to be--in general, cheaper units are better per 1000 funds spent (with infantry being an extreme example).
Walker: Do you have a rivalry with any player(s)? Someone that you particularly hate losing against or have a good history with?
Desklamp: Well, Haxxson and I know and live with each other, and we regularly check League standings to see who's doing better, so... yeah. Right now he's ahead of me, but obviously that's only because he cheats. (I haven't yet figured out how.)
We've played quite a few games against each other on the site by now, and some of them were very complex and interesting. Specifically, the ones I won.
(Author's Note: Desklamp is actually ahead of Haxxson in the Global League right now - apparently he figured out how Haxxson was cheating.)
Walker: If you were playing a 2 vs. 2 team game with $1 million on the line, who would you most want on your team?
Desklamp: dorian5. At the time of writing, dorian5 has the highest rating on the site.
Walker: If there was one thing you'd add to or change about AWBW, what would it be?
Desklamp: I've heard talk about deterministic mode. I can't really claim to be good enough that the luck has ever caused me to lose a game I would have won or won a game I would have lost, but I like the idea sort of on principle, and because this game has a fair amount of positive feedback I can see how being unlucky on an early tank vs. tank fight could cause a good player to lose. I would definitely be happy with League games becoming deterministic.
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Thanks to Desklamp for participating! If someone else would like to volunteer to be featured in the next Player Spotlight, please send me a PM.
Until next time,
Walker
Introduction
Desklamp is a 19 year-old college student who lives in the U.S. Besides AW, he plays Starcraft and enjoys playing board games such as Agricola or Puerto Rico with his friends. He also played tournament chess when he was in high school, and still plays chess now, though not as much as he used to.
On AWBW, Desklamp is fairly new but shows promise for someone with such a low game count. Desklamp has only played 65 games on the site, but has nevertheless done quite well in the Global League so far, posting a record of 16-8-0 and currently is in 21st place out of 131 players. He is also participating in the Colosseum in Division 3, and has gone 1-2-0 in three games against some tough competition. I would rank Desklamp somewhere in the upper mid-level of AWBW players, but he's still improving and I would not be surprised at all to see him break into the top ranks within the next six months.
Games and Recent Results
Desklamp has been doing well lately in his games, and is on a 3-game win streak in the Global League since his last loss, against ymouba on 12/06. He has won against headphone on 12/10, against marxistplot on 12/21, and against TotalFire on 12/21. His other recent loss was a High Funds Colosseum game against TGAL05 on 12/15.
He's currently playing interesting games against:
Lalann in the Colosseum
mxdcyw2000 in the Global League
akiyoshi in the Global League
Interview
I also asked Desklamp some questions about himself and his experiences on AWBW. Here were his replies:
Walker: How did you choose the name "Desklamp"? Is there any significance or meaning behind it?
Desklamp: "Desklamp" is a screen name I chose for myself a long time ago, when I was about 10 years old. There's no significance behind the word itself--at the time, I found it a funny name.
Walker: How did you get interested in AW / AWBW?
Desklamp: I started played AW2 when I was about 12. I remember liking the game a lot, but eventually becoming frustrated with the AI, which was constantly throwing away its units (putting units in the range of indirects, move B copters to where A-Airs could shoot them, etc). Later, I also realized that infantry were extremely strong, and that it was generally possible to win by choosing Grit and building nothing but infantry and artillery. I wanted to play against other people, but the startup cost of teaching someone to play was way too much.
One of my friends who I live with later told me about AWBW after we discovered that we both played AW. (He's Haxxson on the site). I realized right away that this was precisely what I'd wanted--now I could play against opponents who didn't constantly make trivial mistakes, the maps were intelligently made so that spamming infantry wasn't possible, and I didn't even have to wait for my opponent to move each time, since I could just check in once a day and make my move!
Walker: Which AW cartridge game did you enjoy the most?
Desklamp: I most enjoyed AW2, although it's probably just because it's the first one I played on. I liked the fact that unlike in AW:DS, where you could use "boosts" on each level in the campaign, each level you played was completely independent from each other level.
Walker: Do you have a favorite map? A favorite CO to use?
Desklamp: Unorthodox Team Diplomacy is an extremely clever idea. I'm in the middle of a game on it right now--it takes a long time to move because of all the bases, but other than that, it seems like a very well-designed and thought-provoking map.
As for favorite COs, I think I like Sami more than most people because I tend to take her whenever she is not banned and Sturm/Von Bolt aren't legal--I'm perhaps a little bit too enamored with her, but I'm impressed by her SCOP, which is the only SCOP capable of winning the game in a single turn often gets you quite a few properties even when it doesn't do that. But, honestly, I think my real "favorite CO" is usually the highest-tier non-banned CO.
Walker: If you could meet any CO in real life, who would it be?
Desklamp: Sonja. She plays AW like a good game of chess. She tries to play a tight game, but she also likes to win in clever ways, and she tries to predict her opponent's strategy.
Walker: What was something you thought/did when you first joined that you look back on and laugh at now?
Desklamp: When I played AW2 against the AI, I had decided that my two favorite COs were Grit and Colin--Grit because artilleries comboed so well with infantry, and Colin because his guys were cheaper and weaker, but I realized that being weaker didn't make your units worse at some things, like capturing, transport, or meat-shielding. (I also liked Colin's COP.) Because I concluded that that made Colin good, and Kanbei felt symmetrical to Colin, I concluded that Kanbei must be as bad as Colin is good. This made me pretty confused when I first started playing on the site ("Why is Kanbei always banned?").
Walker: If you had one piece of advice for new players, you would tell them...?
Desklamp: Huge tanks aren't as great as they seem to be--in general, cheaper units are better per 1000 funds spent (with infantry being an extreme example).
Walker: Do you have a rivalry with any player(s)? Someone that you particularly hate losing against or have a good history with?
Desklamp: Well, Haxxson and I know and live with each other, and we regularly check League standings to see who's doing better, so... yeah. Right now he's ahead of me, but obviously that's only because he cheats. (I haven't yet figured out how.)
We've played quite a few games against each other on the site by now, and some of them were very complex and interesting. Specifically, the ones I won.
(Author's Note: Desklamp is actually ahead of Haxxson in the Global League right now - apparently he figured out how Haxxson was cheating.)
Walker: If you were playing a 2 vs. 2 team game with $1 million on the line, who would you most want on your team?
Desklamp: dorian5. At the time of writing, dorian5 has the highest rating on the site.
Walker: If there was one thing you'd add to or change about AWBW, what would it be?
Desklamp: I've heard talk about deterministic mode. I can't really claim to be good enough that the luck has ever caused me to lose a game I would have won or won a game I would have lost, but I like the idea sort of on principle, and because this game has a fair amount of positive feedback I can see how being unlucky on an early tank vs. tank fight could cause a good player to lose. I would definitely be happy with League games becoming deterministic.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to Desklamp for participating! If someone else would like to volunteer to be featured in the next Player Spotlight, please send me a PM.
Until next time,
Walker
Friday, December 23, 2011
AWBW Cup Wrap Up
So far, there have been four tournaments in the AWBW Cup series. Although none of them have finished yet, three are now in the final stages and on the verge of being completed. That's right, it's time for the championships of the Sept., Oct., and Nov. Cups, after which three players will be crowned as tournament champions and inducted into the Hall of Fame. In honor of that, I'd like to take a few moments to briefly highlight each of these three championship matches.
September Cup Final - Hellraider vs. walkerboh01
The championship match of the inaugural AWBW Cup tourney amusingly features the two organizers of the tournament, Hellraider and Walker. Hellraider was the clear-cut favorite to win it all coming into the tournament, and has done nothing to suggest otherwise thus far after powering through his first two opponents. Walker was not expected to make it to the championship, but surprisingly defeated the favored Kamuscha in the semifinals to advance after a hotly contested opening game with marxistplot. Hellraider is the obvious one to bet on to win the match.
The match itself is a no CO powers game, and it is currently Hellraider's turn on day 11. Hellraider earned an advantage during the capture phase of the game, compounded by being able to build his first three vehicles before Walker and then contesting one of Walker's city captures. Although relatively large masses of units (especially infantry) developed on the fronts, Hellraider launched an attack on day 10 on Walker's weaker front. Walker counterattacked, but it is incredibly likely that Hellraider will be able to push through and break Walker's lines in the next couple turns. An upset does not look likely, and all signals point towards a Hellraider win.
October Cup Final - fdkanns vs. the Weakest Xiaoniao
The October Cup championship is a showdown between two of the heavyweights on AWBW who have proven their skill in the Global League. Fdkanns was the most highly rated player coming into the tournament and advanced quite comfortably past supersnipe64 and Mr--Clean (despite long delays). The Weakest Xiaoniao also did not have much trouble in his first two games, beating headphone and Walker consecutively. However, despite being seeded higher than the Weakest Xiaoniao coming into the tournament, fdkanns may not be favored to win this particular matchup. In fact, the Weakest Xiaoniao was one of the few players to hand fdkanns a loss in the Global League, which was the last match between the two. Fdkanns will surely be looking for revenge now with the October Cup title on the line, but it will be no easy feat to vanquish Xiaoniao.
The match has yet to start and the CO selections are still unknown, but it will be a High Tier game on "el rio acelguate loco!". If the Weakest Xiaoniao can avoid the inconsistent play that has plagued him against top players over the last 6 months, this match promises to a classic, and certainly worth keeping track of.
November Cup Final - Roswell vs. ymouba
The November Cup championship features a well-established elite player in Roswell the Black Rose against an up-and-coming player trying to break into the upper echelon of AWBW in ymouba. Roswell was the favorite to claim the championship from the beginning of the tournament, and neatly handled his first two opponents, Kragorix and julberndt. Meanwhile, ymouba was not even favored to win his first game, a battle against the relatively strong shompiador_kalabaza. Despite the odds, ymouba emerged the victor, and then proceeded to advance to the championship after another tight game against marxistplot in the semifinals. Roswell is favored to win the match, but ymouba has a legitimate chance at making the upset if he plays to the best of his capabilities.
Currently the game is on Roswell's turn on day 4, and has been stalled by Roswell's recent vacation. Although it is too early in the match to determine who may have an advantage, it is noteworthy that ymouba has decided to skip the capture of his airport. Will he attempt a bold, aggressive opening as Max? On paper it appears that Roswell's Hawke should have the advantage, but considering the tower, positioning of the airport, and relative openness of the center, it is conceivable that Max could be a match for Hawke. The game is still in the early stages and anything can happen, but it will undoubtedly be a match worth keeping an eye on as it develops.
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In other news, the signups for the January Cup are open and won't close until the end of the year, so if you want to participate there are still plenty of spots available!
Until next time,
Walker
September Cup Final - Hellraider vs. walkerboh01
The championship match of the inaugural AWBW Cup tourney amusingly features the two organizers of the tournament, Hellraider and Walker. Hellraider was the clear-cut favorite to win it all coming into the tournament, and has done nothing to suggest otherwise thus far after powering through his first two opponents. Walker was not expected to make it to the championship, but surprisingly defeated the favored Kamuscha in the semifinals to advance after a hotly contested opening game with marxistplot. Hellraider is the obvious one to bet on to win the match.
The match itself is a no CO powers game, and it is currently Hellraider's turn on day 11. Hellraider earned an advantage during the capture phase of the game, compounded by being able to build his first three vehicles before Walker and then contesting one of Walker's city captures. Although relatively large masses of units (especially infantry) developed on the fronts, Hellraider launched an attack on day 10 on Walker's weaker front. Walker counterattacked, but it is incredibly likely that Hellraider will be able to push through and break Walker's lines in the next couple turns. An upset does not look likely, and all signals point towards a Hellraider win.
October Cup Final - fdkanns vs. the Weakest Xiaoniao
The October Cup championship is a showdown between two of the heavyweights on AWBW who have proven their skill in the Global League. Fdkanns was the most highly rated player coming into the tournament and advanced quite comfortably past supersnipe64 and Mr--Clean (despite long delays). The Weakest Xiaoniao also did not have much trouble in his first two games, beating headphone and Walker consecutively. However, despite being seeded higher than the Weakest Xiaoniao coming into the tournament, fdkanns may not be favored to win this particular matchup. In fact, the Weakest Xiaoniao was one of the few players to hand fdkanns a loss in the Global League, which was the last match between the two. Fdkanns will surely be looking for revenge now with the October Cup title on the line, but it will be no easy feat to vanquish Xiaoniao.
The match has yet to start and the CO selections are still unknown, but it will be a High Tier game on "el rio acelguate loco!". If the Weakest Xiaoniao can avoid the inconsistent play that has plagued him against top players over the last 6 months, this match promises to a classic, and certainly worth keeping track of.
November Cup Final - Roswell vs. ymouba
The November Cup championship features a well-established elite player in Roswell the Black Rose against an up-and-coming player trying to break into the upper echelon of AWBW in ymouba. Roswell was the favorite to claim the championship from the beginning of the tournament, and neatly handled his first two opponents, Kragorix and julberndt. Meanwhile, ymouba was not even favored to win his first game, a battle against the relatively strong shompiador_kalabaza. Despite the odds, ymouba emerged the victor, and then proceeded to advance to the championship after another tight game against marxistplot in the semifinals. Roswell is favored to win the match, but ymouba has a legitimate chance at making the upset if he plays to the best of his capabilities.
Currently the game is on Roswell's turn on day 4, and has been stalled by Roswell's recent vacation. Although it is too early in the match to determine who may have an advantage, it is noteworthy that ymouba has decided to skip the capture of his airport. Will he attempt a bold, aggressive opening as Max? On paper it appears that Roswell's Hawke should have the advantage, but considering the tower, positioning of the airport, and relative openness of the center, it is conceivable that Max could be a match for Hawke. The game is still in the early stages and anything can happen, but it will undoubtedly be a match worth keeping an eye on as it develops.
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In other news, the signups for the January Cup are open and won't close until the end of the year, so if you want to participate there are still plenty of spots available!
Until next time,
Walker
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
AWBW Recent Happenings
In addition to the Global League (which we discussed recently), there have been a lot of other interesting things going on around the site. Since we've been a bit lax in staying updated, let's take a minute to talk about some of the new developments on AWBW over the last 2 months.
1. Colosseum Season 6 - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14038
The Colosseum is the second-longest-running competition currently on AWBW (the old leagues are the oldest), and Season 6 is now in full swing after starting on November 1st. There are 49 players making up 7 divisions competing in high funds, fog of war, broken CO, gimmick map, and normal games. The second of three months of competition is currently underway, and Month 3 is slated to begin on January 1st, 2012.
2. AWBW Cup - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13839
The inaugural AWBW Cup was in September, and new tournaments have since started for October, November, and most recently December. None of the tournaments have finished yet, although the September Cup and November Cup are currently in the championship rounds.
For the September Cup, the championship game features Hellraider vs. Walker on Aphotic Arena and it is currently on day 9. To get to the final Hellraider triumphed over lolabunny and frostylight, while Walker narrowly beat out marxistplot and Kamuscha.
For the November Cup, the championship game features Roswell the Black Rose vs. ymouba on Spur of the Moment and it is currently on day 4. Roswell took care of Kragorix and julberndt, while ymouba had to overcome sarastro and marxistplot.
Meanwhile, the October Cup has the semifinals in progress. The Weakest Xiaoniao has already advanced to the final with a win over Walker, and awaits the winner of the fdkanns vs. Mr--Clean semifinal showdown. The December Cup has just entered Round 2, narrowing the number of remaining competitors down to 8.
Signups for the January Cup will open on December 22nd, so if you missed out on the tournaments up until now and want to join, there's your chance.
3. PurgeCorp Map Contest - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=14102
SmackCakes started a map competition in early November with a new twist on map design. PurgeCorp was looking to urbanize a large plot of land they had bought, and was looking for a design that would only add urban elements to the land (roads, rivers, pipes, properties). It forced map makers to take the same basic starting point of a map and develop it in unique ways to achieve a creative, playable, and visually appealing final product.
The contest ran for three weeks, with users able to submit one map a week up to a maximum of 3. About a dozen people competed, creating 20 maps. Some designers made minimal changes to the basic terrain layout and created nice, albeit similar-looking maps. Other designers stretched the boundaries of the rules a little more, especially when it came to broken pipe seams (to Smacky's dismay). One particular designer even incorporated an AWBW meme into his map, with pretty funny results. For me, the coolest part of the competition was seeing just how many completely different maps were produced from the same starting point.
The judging stage is now in progress, as PurgeCorp will select its top designs and put them up for a public vote to decide the winner. The grand prize for the winner is the chance to redesign a map of their choosing with a customized tile set similar to what was used in Sky City, which is a pretty attractive reward. As of right now, there is no timeline for the judging. Play-testing and commenting on all maps is encouraged!
4. Hetchel's Replay Saver - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14235
This one is particularly bittersweet for me. A replay viewer has been requested on a few separate occasions in the last couple years, and finally hetchel stepped up to the plate and delivered it: a shiny new tool to download and save the replays from completed AWBW matches. The main site's replay function unfortunately deletes the log and replay information after 3 weeks in order to save space, making it difficult and time-consuming to save games (it involved taking a lot of screenshots). Hetchel's new tool allows you to download, save, and export image files from games, making it easier to review, replay, and share old games. It's currently in version 3 (or maybe 4?), and includes fog, CO powers, tag COs, and game logs. All in all, it's a pretty impressive and handy tool for players looking to learn from their games. Major props and thanks to hetchel!
Unfortunately for Mac users (i.e., me), the replay saver isn't compatible with Macs, so I haven't been able to play around with it at all. I'm assuming it's quite nice from what I've heard from other people though! Hetchel, you're already partially my hero for making this, but you'll [i]really[/i] be my hero if you manage to make it Mac-compatible.
5. New AWBW Wiki - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=13891
When the site's server was changed a few months back, it was generally regarded as a great improvement to the site. The site's speed drastically increased, there were many fewer bugs and problems, and in general the appeal of the site went way up. There were a few casualties though, and the old AWBW guide and AWBW wiki were unfortunately lost.
Because the wiki was a valuable resource for new players to learn how to use the site and for all players to learn about COs and strategy, an effort was recently made to make a new wiki. Started by headphone with lots of help from forbs, marxistplot, and especially Kit, the new wiki was recently put up to the main site. It still needs a lot of information regarding COs, the metagame, maps and design, etc., but it's a start at least. Please feel free to make your own contribution, any work done for the wiki will be greatly appreciated.
6. Global League Map and Settings Changes - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=13803
The league rankings and players are always fluctuating, but some changes were recently made to the maps and settings being used in the league, as well. Some of the significant changes included moving Sasha up to the top tier, and on some maps moving Max up to high tier, Kindle down to mid tier, and Sami down to high tier. Sami and Kindle had seen almost no use in top and high tier respectively, while everyone was getting just a little sick of Sasha mirrors in every high tier game and Max steamrolling everyone else in a lot of mid tier games. Still no luck for those who want to see the Lucky Trio or the Broken Five in league matches though.
As for maps, a lot of the smaller league maps were removed due to a general dislike of the crowded, stalematish situations that arose on them. Maps like Renewal, Break Out!!, Hypnotize, and Aerial Aced were removed in favor of new, larger maps, namely Aphotic Arena, Iconic, and Elstar. There are still more map changes that could be made in the near future, but for now the league is holding steady at 19 maps.
7. Map Committee Additions
Finally, a less public change was made recently to the Map Committee, as 3 new members have been added. Ultra Storm was brought onto the committee a couple months ago, and headphone and Roswell the Black Rose were added just last week. The full Map Committee now consists of:
airob
headphone
Heartless
Hellraider
Roswell the Black Rose
SmackCakes
Ultra Storm
Walker
wareagle
xushu
Congrats to those three new recruits, and thanks for your contributions to the site!
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Those are the 7 most major developments on the site over the last couple months. I'd also like to call a little attention to a few other things going on around the site:
Official CO Tier List - Hellraider has made some edits to the tier list in accordance with recent information from Global League games. There are still several CO placements that are unclear, so if you have any thoughts on CO placement, please feel free to discuss (hopefully with a completed game as evidence!).
Z-Games - The new Z-Games have been running since July, but headphone has just added FFA games to the list this month. Please let Headphone or Walker know if you have any maps you'd like to add or any ideas for improving Z-Games maps/settings.
A/S-Rank Maps - Although nominations were a complete failure, the Map Committee would still like to know if you have suggestions for A-Rank maps. Map Committee will be working on new selections sometime in the (distant?) future.
Red11's casual tournament - Despite delays and dropouts, Red11's tournament is continuing on. The final round for the championship is slated to begin in late December, so we'll be keeping an eye on the finale of that tournament then.
Hall of Fame - Currently the HoF is empty, but with the September and November Cups drawing to a close, there will be entrants in the Hall soon. In addition, the top 3 of the Global League will be honored in the Hall of Fame at some point in the near future. More information on that will be coming soon.
Fog of War glitches - Ichbinsehselber is collecting all known issues with fog of war in the hope of fixing them more easily. If you know of any fow glitches, please make sure to post them in that thread!
Until next time,
Walker
1. Colosseum Season 6 - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14038
The Colosseum is the second-longest-running competition currently on AWBW (the old leagues are the oldest), and Season 6 is now in full swing after starting on November 1st. There are 49 players making up 7 divisions competing in high funds, fog of war, broken CO, gimmick map, and normal games. The second of three months of competition is currently underway, and Month 3 is slated to begin on January 1st, 2012.
2. AWBW Cup - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13839
The inaugural AWBW Cup was in September, and new tournaments have since started for October, November, and most recently December. None of the tournaments have finished yet, although the September Cup and November Cup are currently in the championship rounds.
For the September Cup, the championship game features Hellraider vs. Walker on Aphotic Arena and it is currently on day 9. To get to the final Hellraider triumphed over lolabunny and frostylight, while Walker narrowly beat out marxistplot and Kamuscha.
For the November Cup, the championship game features Roswell the Black Rose vs. ymouba on Spur of the Moment and it is currently on day 4. Roswell took care of Kragorix and julberndt, while ymouba had to overcome sarastro and marxistplot.
Meanwhile, the October Cup has the semifinals in progress. The Weakest Xiaoniao has already advanced to the final with a win over Walker, and awaits the winner of the fdkanns vs. Mr--Clean semifinal showdown. The December Cup has just entered Round 2, narrowing the number of remaining competitors down to 8.
Signups for the January Cup will open on December 22nd, so if you missed out on the tournaments up until now and want to join, there's your chance.
3. PurgeCorp Map Contest - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=14102
SmackCakes started a map competition in early November with a new twist on map design. PurgeCorp was looking to urbanize a large plot of land they had bought, and was looking for a design that would only add urban elements to the land (roads, rivers, pipes, properties). It forced map makers to take the same basic starting point of a map and develop it in unique ways to achieve a creative, playable, and visually appealing final product.
The contest ran for three weeks, with users able to submit one map a week up to a maximum of 3. About a dozen people competed, creating 20 maps. Some designers made minimal changes to the basic terrain layout and created nice, albeit similar-looking maps. Other designers stretched the boundaries of the rules a little more, especially when it came to broken pipe seams (to Smacky's dismay). One particular designer even incorporated an AWBW meme into his map, with pretty funny results. For me, the coolest part of the competition was seeing just how many completely different maps were produced from the same starting point.
The judging stage is now in progress, as PurgeCorp will select its top designs and put them up for a public vote to decide the winner. The grand prize for the winner is the chance to redesign a map of their choosing with a customized tile set similar to what was used in Sky City, which is a pretty attractive reward. As of right now, there is no timeline for the judging. Play-testing and commenting on all maps is encouraged!
4. Hetchel's Replay Saver - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14235
This one is particularly bittersweet for me. A replay viewer has been requested on a few separate occasions in the last couple years, and finally hetchel stepped up to the plate and delivered it: a shiny new tool to download and save the replays from completed AWBW matches. The main site's replay function unfortunately deletes the log and replay information after 3 weeks in order to save space, making it difficult and time-consuming to save games (it involved taking a lot of screenshots). Hetchel's new tool allows you to download, save, and export image files from games, making it easier to review, replay, and share old games. It's currently in version 3 (or maybe 4?), and includes fog, CO powers, tag COs, and game logs. All in all, it's a pretty impressive and handy tool for players looking to learn from their games. Major props and thanks to hetchel!
Unfortunately for Mac users (i.e., me), the replay saver isn't compatible with Macs, so I haven't been able to play around with it at all. I'm assuming it's quite nice from what I've heard from other people though! Hetchel, you're already partially my hero for making this, but you'll [i]really[/i] be my hero if you manage to make it Mac-compatible.
5. New AWBW Wiki - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=13891
When the site's server was changed a few months back, it was generally regarded as a great improvement to the site. The site's speed drastically increased, there were many fewer bugs and problems, and in general the appeal of the site went way up. There were a few casualties though, and the old AWBW guide and AWBW wiki were unfortunately lost.
Because the wiki was a valuable resource for new players to learn how to use the site and for all players to learn about COs and strategy, an effort was recently made to make a new wiki. Started by headphone with lots of help from forbs, marxistplot, and especially Kit, the new wiki was recently put up to the main site. It still needs a lot of information regarding COs, the metagame, maps and design, etc., but it's a start at least. Please feel free to make your own contribution, any work done for the wiki will be greatly appreciated.
6. Global League Map and Settings Changes - http://www.amarriner.com/awbw_forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=13803
The league rankings and players are always fluctuating, but some changes were recently made to the maps and settings being used in the league, as well. Some of the significant changes included moving Sasha up to the top tier, and on some maps moving Max up to high tier, Kindle down to mid tier, and Sami down to high tier. Sami and Kindle had seen almost no use in top and high tier respectively, while everyone was getting just a little sick of Sasha mirrors in every high tier game and Max steamrolling everyone else in a lot of mid tier games. Still no luck for those who want to see the Lucky Trio or the Broken Five in league matches though.
As for maps, a lot of the smaller league maps were removed due to a general dislike of the crowded, stalematish situations that arose on them. Maps like Renewal, Break Out!!, Hypnotize, and Aerial Aced were removed in favor of new, larger maps, namely Aphotic Arena, Iconic, and Elstar. There are still more map changes that could be made in the near future, but for now the league is holding steady at 19 maps.
7. Map Committee Additions
Finally, a less public change was made recently to the Map Committee, as 3 new members have been added. Ultra Storm was brought onto the committee a couple months ago, and headphone and Roswell the Black Rose were added just last week. The full Map Committee now consists of:
airob
headphone
Heartless
Hellraider
Roswell the Black Rose
SmackCakes
Ultra Storm
Walker
wareagle
xushu
Congrats to those three new recruits, and thanks for your contributions to the site!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those are the 7 most major developments on the site over the last couple months. I'd also like to call a little attention to a few other things going on around the site:
Official CO Tier List - Hellraider has made some edits to the tier list in accordance with recent information from Global League games. There are still several CO placements that are unclear, so if you have any thoughts on CO placement, please feel free to discuss (hopefully with a completed game as evidence!).
Z-Games - The new Z-Games have been running since July, but headphone has just added FFA games to the list this month. Please let Headphone or Walker know if you have any maps you'd like to add or any ideas for improving Z-Games maps/settings.
A/S-Rank Maps - Although nominations were a complete failure, the Map Committee would still like to know if you have suggestions for A-Rank maps. Map Committee will be working on new selections sometime in the (distant?) future.
Red11's casual tournament - Despite delays and dropouts, Red11's tournament is continuing on. The final round for the championship is slated to begin in late December, so we'll be keeping an eye on the finale of that tournament then.
Hall of Fame - Currently the HoF is empty, but with the September and November Cups drawing to a close, there will be entrants in the Hall soon. In addition, the top 3 of the Global League will be honored in the Hall of Fame at some point in the near future. More information on that will be coming soon.
Fog of War glitches - Ichbinsehselber is collecting all known issues with fog of war in the hope of fixing them more easily. If you know of any fow glitches, please make sure to post them in that thread!
Until next time,
Walker
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Global League Review 12/18/11
Well I'm a couple days early with the Global League review for this week. I'll be out of town for a few days though, and I thought a couple days earlier would be better than later, so here we are! As of today the Global League is rolling along nicely, 123 players strong. The top 5 hasn't seen any movement since our review last week, but there are some good games heating up that I'd like to touch on a bit.
Global League Top 5
1. dorian5 - 1147.10, 16-0-0 (Last review: 1)
Last week: 0-0-0
2. Ultra Storm - 1142.75, 13-0-0 (Last review: 2)
Last week: 0-0-0
As I very briefly mentioned last week, currently our top-ranked league players are engaged in a heated match. Adding to the drama of the top two going mano y mano is the fact that both dorian and Ultra are undefeated in league play, coming into the match with a combined 29 consecutive wins. Not even a draw has been salvaged by any opponent of either player. It's even somewhat apt to think of this game as the Unstoppable Force versus the Immovable Object, with dorian playing the role of the up-and-coming challenger attempting to "force" Ultra from his "immovable" perch at the pinnacle of AWBW play.
The game itself is proceeding in a very interesting fashion, pitting Sasha against Von Bolt in one of the first matches with Sasha since her move to top tier. Dorian is well-known for his expert use of Sasha (a whole 40% of his matches have been with her - 151 out of 392), but Ultra played to Von Bolt's strengths in the early game by fiercely contesting dorian's capture phase. After the dust cleared from the early trading, dorian had lost a recon and inf with one damaged tank, while Ultra lost one infantry and had two heavily damaged tanks. Each side retreated to lick their wounds - dorian began building copters which was instantly countered by AAs from Ultra. Currently on Day 10, dorian has the funds advantage (thanks partially to Sasha), but otherwise the match is roughly even. It looks like the next few turns will feature a battle on the top and bottom sides for the contested properties, and it will be interesting to see how well Sasha can carry into the late-game against Von Bolt.
3. Chilin-xiaoniao3 - 1134.32, 29-2-0 (Last review: 3)
Last week: 0-0-0
One good win boosts Xiaoniao back up to the #1 spot, which he has occupied for short periods over the last few weeks. Perhaps his best chance to win soon is his game against Ancient Paradise on Caustic Finale, although he is also doing well in his game against Duke of Blue Moon on Rainy.
4. Hellraider - 1130.83, 10-0-0 (Last review: 4)
Last week: 0-0-0
Hellraider will have to endure his time out of the top 3 for the foreseeable future, as he only has one game running (against Xiaoniao). With that game advancing slowly, it seems more likely that he will be surpassed by one of the players directly behind him in the near future rather than climb higher in the rankings.
5. Duke of Blue Moon - 1129.83, 29-7-0 (Last review: 5)
Last Week: 0-0-0
Duke of Blue Moon appears to be on the verge of dropping like a rock in the league standings. He has 7 league games running, but only 4 of those are past the capture phase, and he appears to be in trouble in 3 of those 4. I already mentioned his game with xiaoniao, but he is practically on the verge of defeat against felix45 on Rainy and he's not doing so hot against Diwa on Highway to Hell either. While a big SCOP from Olaf may be enough to salvage the game against felix, he has a long ways to go to avoid a losing streak in the near future.
Best of the Rest
6. felix45 - 1110.79, 11-2-1 (Last review: 6)
Could be leapfrogging Duke of Blue Moon soon depending on the result of their game. Also looking strong in two games versus Xiaoniao.
7. fdkanns - 1097.73, 26-5-0 (Last review: 7)
Maybe the greatest player in all of existence, fdkanns has been relegated to 7th place only by tremendously poor luck. His lone game with black_wave should be wrapping up shortly, and his return to the top spot is all but inevitable.
8. Diwa - 1084.19, 14-1-3 (Last review: 10)
Diwa has produced the only shift in rankings in the top 10 over the last week, launching up 2 spots from #10 with a big win over now-#17 Kiririn. The game is particularly noteworthy because Diwa triumphed as Max over Kiririn's Sami, giving some credence to Sami's move down from top tier on maps with 2 bases.
9. Ancient Paradise - 1081.64, 26-9-0 (Last review: 8)
Dropped one spot due to Diwa's win, although he will certainly move up soon when his game with raubvogel finishes. The jump might not last for long, as his other game versus Xiaoniao is not looking so good for him.
10. ANT13 - 1063.11, 30-9-6 (Last review: 9)
Like Ancient Paradise, ANT13 has dropped one spot despite no newly completed games. He is another candidate to rise a couple spots in the near future, with the potential to win a fairly compelling game against Haxxson.
Almost There!
11. walkerboh01 - 1057.79, 14-2-1 (Last review: 11)
12. TotalFire - 1056.61, 33-12-16 (Last review: 12)
13. benbever - 1042.91, 4-3-1 (Last review: 13)
14. black_wave - 1038.94, 74-33-11 (Last review: N/A)
15. Black Mont-Blanc - 1034.99, 8-0-0 (Last review: 15)
By the Numbers
2 - Days played in a league game between benbever vs. Duke of Blue Moon. The game, which started on November 9th, 2011, shows benbever's trend of enjoying to take long vacations from AWBW.
14 - Active players who have completed more than 50 league games (not counting draws).
20 - Weeks that the Global League has been running for as of next Tuesday (Dec. 20th). The Global League was first announced on the forum on August 2nd, 2011 and was launched on the main site on September 15th.
1034.64 - The combined rating of the lowest two members of the league and masters of the day 1 boot loss, maomao10694 and word5654123. Even combined, their rating would only rank 16th in the league (this was as of 12/17 - "word" has since been booted from the league).
In Other News...
Another player's unbeaten streak in the league has come to a screeching halt. Previously 8-0-0, japanj has suffered his first loss of his league campaign at the hands of SM Ephraim.
Red11 has been moving up the rankings at a torrid pace lately, jumping up to 18th currently at 1007.61 and 9-0-0. Cereal Killer is currently attempting not to become his latest victim.
1000rpm is the highest-ranked player to have a losing record currently. His rating of 867.07 is good enough for 55th in the league, despite his 7-9-0 record. 1000rpm is looking to work back up to 0.500 in his current game against Haxxson.
There are several players in the league who are probably better than their current ranking shows. I would put my money on these 5 players to eventually rise significantly up the standings:
29. ichbinsehselber - 937.92, 5-0-0
47. SmackCakes - 890.83, 9-4-0
76. excrimophalus - 826.53, 2-1-0
78. Shompiador_kalabaza - 826.05, 2-1-0
90. taviroww - 810.34, 3-2-0
Until next time,
Walker
Global League Top 5
1. dorian5 - 1147.10, 16-0-0 (Last review: 1)
Last week: 0-0-0
2. Ultra Storm - 1142.75, 13-0-0 (Last review: 2)
Last week: 0-0-0
As I very briefly mentioned last week, currently our top-ranked league players are engaged in a heated match. Adding to the drama of the top two going mano y mano is the fact that both dorian and Ultra are undefeated in league play, coming into the match with a combined 29 consecutive wins. Not even a draw has been salvaged by any opponent of either player. It's even somewhat apt to think of this game as the Unstoppable Force versus the Immovable Object, with dorian playing the role of the up-and-coming challenger attempting to "force" Ultra from his "immovable" perch at the pinnacle of AWBW play.
The game itself is proceeding in a very interesting fashion, pitting Sasha against Von Bolt in one of the first matches with Sasha since her move to top tier. Dorian is well-known for his expert use of Sasha (a whole 40% of his matches have been with her - 151 out of 392), but Ultra played to Von Bolt's strengths in the early game by fiercely contesting dorian's capture phase. After the dust cleared from the early trading, dorian had lost a recon and inf with one damaged tank, while Ultra lost one infantry and had two heavily damaged tanks. Each side retreated to lick their wounds - dorian began building copters which was instantly countered by AAs from Ultra. Currently on Day 10, dorian has the funds advantage (thanks partially to Sasha), but otherwise the match is roughly even. It looks like the next few turns will feature a battle on the top and bottom sides for the contested properties, and it will be interesting to see how well Sasha can carry into the late-game against Von Bolt.
3. Chilin-xiaoniao3 - 1134.32, 29-2-0 (Last review: 3)
Last week: 0-0-0
One good win boosts Xiaoniao back up to the #1 spot, which he has occupied for short periods over the last few weeks. Perhaps his best chance to win soon is his game against Ancient Paradise on Caustic Finale, although he is also doing well in his game against Duke of Blue Moon on Rainy.
4. Hellraider - 1130.83, 10-0-0 (Last review: 4)
Last week: 0-0-0
Hellraider will have to endure his time out of the top 3 for the foreseeable future, as he only has one game running (against Xiaoniao). With that game advancing slowly, it seems more likely that he will be surpassed by one of the players directly behind him in the near future rather than climb higher in the rankings.
5. Duke of Blue Moon - 1129.83, 29-7-0 (Last review: 5)
Last Week: 0-0-0
Duke of Blue Moon appears to be on the verge of dropping like a rock in the league standings. He has 7 league games running, but only 4 of those are past the capture phase, and he appears to be in trouble in 3 of those 4. I already mentioned his game with xiaoniao, but he is practically on the verge of defeat against felix45 on Rainy and he's not doing so hot against Diwa on Highway to Hell either. While a big SCOP from Olaf may be enough to salvage the game against felix, he has a long ways to go to avoid a losing streak in the near future.
Best of the Rest
6. felix45 - 1110.79, 11-2-1 (Last review: 6)
Could be leapfrogging Duke of Blue Moon soon depending on the result of their game. Also looking strong in two games versus Xiaoniao.
7. fdkanns - 1097.73, 26-5-0 (Last review: 7)
Maybe the greatest player in all of existence, fdkanns has been relegated to 7th place only by tremendously poor luck. His lone game with black_wave should be wrapping up shortly, and his return to the top spot is all but inevitable.
8. Diwa - 1084.19, 14-1-3 (Last review: 10)
Diwa has produced the only shift in rankings in the top 10 over the last week, launching up 2 spots from #10 with a big win over now-#17 Kiririn. The game is particularly noteworthy because Diwa triumphed as Max over Kiririn's Sami, giving some credence to Sami's move down from top tier on maps with 2 bases.
9. Ancient Paradise - 1081.64, 26-9-0 (Last review: 8)
Dropped one spot due to Diwa's win, although he will certainly move up soon when his game with raubvogel finishes. The jump might not last for long, as his other game versus Xiaoniao is not looking so good for him.
10. ANT13 - 1063.11, 30-9-6 (Last review: 9)
Like Ancient Paradise, ANT13 has dropped one spot despite no newly completed games. He is another candidate to rise a couple spots in the near future, with the potential to win a fairly compelling game against Haxxson.
Almost There!
11. walkerboh01 - 1057.79, 14-2-1 (Last review: 11)
12. TotalFire - 1056.61, 33-12-16 (Last review: 12)
13. benbever - 1042.91, 4-3-1 (Last review: 13)
14. black_wave - 1038.94, 74-33-11 (Last review: N/A)
15. Black Mont-Blanc - 1034.99, 8-0-0 (Last review: 15)
By the Numbers
2 - Days played in a league game between benbever vs. Duke of Blue Moon. The game, which started on November 9th, 2011, shows benbever's trend of enjoying to take long vacations from AWBW.
14 - Active players who have completed more than 50 league games (not counting draws).
20 - Weeks that the Global League has been running for as of next Tuesday (Dec. 20th). The Global League was first announced on the forum on August 2nd, 2011 and was launched on the main site on September 15th.
1034.64 - The combined rating of the lowest two members of the league and masters of the day 1 boot loss, maomao10694 and word5654123. Even combined, their rating would only rank 16th in the league (this was as of 12/17 - "word" has since been booted from the league).
In Other News...
Another player's unbeaten streak in the league has come to a screeching halt. Previously 8-0-0, japanj has suffered his first loss of his league campaign at the hands of SM Ephraim.
Red11 has been moving up the rankings at a torrid pace lately, jumping up to 18th currently at 1007.61 and 9-0-0. Cereal Killer is currently attempting not to become his latest victim.
1000rpm is the highest-ranked player to have a losing record currently. His rating of 867.07 is good enough for 55th in the league, despite his 7-9-0 record. 1000rpm is looking to work back up to 0.500 in his current game against Haxxson.
There are several players in the league who are probably better than their current ranking shows. I would put my money on these 5 players to eventually rise significantly up the standings:
29. ichbinsehselber - 937.92, 5-0-0
47. SmackCakes - 890.83, 9-4-0
76. excrimophalus - 826.53, 2-1-0
78. Shompiador_kalabaza - 826.05, 2-1-0
90. taviroww - 810.34, 3-2-0
Until next time,
Walker
Friday, December 16, 2011
High Funds FTA Review
High funds games have opened a new door for AWBW play recently, providing games with different viable play styles, more use of air and high-tech units, and a mixup of the CO tier list. Hellraider has already addressed some of the potential deviations from normal games that may occur in high fund games, but many of the nuances of high funds play have yet to be discovered. Season 6 of the Colosseum has involved an effort to test high funds games in a competitive setting, and almost immediately FTA issues were spotted on the pioneer of high funds maps, Color of Envy. I'd like to talk about the specifics of FTA on the map in a little more detail, especially with regards to this Month 1 Colosseum game between Hellraider and Roswell the Black Rose, from which Roswell resigned on day 10.
Day 1 - Roswell's turn
The FTA counter on the map is different from FTA counters on normal maps - all of the bases start as neutral. On Color of Envy there are 3 neutral bases and 3 starting infantry per player, which is the root of the FTA issues. Because there are an odd number of bases, one player will be able to capture 2 bases first, while the other player will be able to capture only 1 base first. Here, the FTA counter is set so that Hellraider can capture one forward base (north or south, his choice) and the backwards base on the first turn. Whichever forward base Hellraider chooses to capture first will be the front that he will have the advantage on in the game, while Roswell will have the advantage on the opposite front - each player will be 1/2 turn ahead on their advantage fronts.
Because Hellraider gets to choose which front he will be 1/2 turn ahead on, it is advantageous for him to choose the side with more properties to be captured, so that he can gain funding quicker. On Color of Envy, this is the southern front. Below I've illustrated which base is responsible for capturing which properties
Red = northern base, Green = middle base, Blue = southern base.
As you can see, the northern base will capture 5 properties, the middle base will capture 3, and the southern base will capture 7. This will result in slight FTA, as Hellraider is able to make the better choice and take the advantage on the better front, which he does in the game. In addition Hellraider has the advantage from the central base, which means that he is able to capture 12 properties first (10 properties + 2 bases), while Roswell is able to only capture 6 first (5 properties + 1 base). Note that these numbers depend on the chosen capture phase somewhat, but any reasonable capture phase will result in a significant advantage in properties captured first for Player 1.
In addition to the funding advantage from being able to capture twice as many properties first, Hellraider also receives a positioning advantage from being able to capture two bases first. Two bases first means two infantry first, which means that Hellraider will have an infantry advantage in getting to the contested properties. This will be more easily shown as the game continues on.
Day 3 - Roswell's turn
On day 3 the initial effects of the FTA are apparent. Hellraider is 1/2 turn ahead on the southern front (he is beginning capture of the city 3W of his base before Roswell) and 1/2 turn behind on the northern front (finishing capture of the northern base after Roswell). But he is able to send an extra infantry north from the middle base, essentially canceling Roswell's advantage. The extra inf will allow Hellraider to contest Roswell's capture of the contested properties more easily than Roswell can on the opposite front.
Day 4 - Roswell's turn
Here you can see that Hellraider has chosen to rush for the contested city on the southern front by skipping the capture of the city 3W of the southern base. (In high funds games, it is becoming clear that rushing for contested properties is a much better strategy than in normal games. Because the properties are worth more, it is worth sacrificing a 1k infantry to prevent your opponent from capturing a city worth 2.5k. Therefore rushing for contested properties and either a) capturing your contested property cleanly or b) disrupting your opponent's capture of their contested property, is a cost-effective and smart strategy.) Hellraider has also chosen to skip the capture of the port on the northern front, and has sent his infantry (which came from the middle base, remember) to a position where it will be able to disrupt Roswell's capture of the contested city. This leaves Roswell in a bit of a predicament: in order to disrupt Hellraider's capture of the southern city, he has to abandon capturing his city. On the other hand, Hellraider is able to capture his city AND disrupt Roswell's capture, simply because he is a turn ahead from the central base.
It is also worth noting that Hellraider declines to build a tank this turn, although he has the money to afford it. However, he will be able to build 2 tanks next turn (with 15k). This allows Hellraider to a) build more infantry earlier in order to capture more properties and b) see where Roswell builds his first vehicle from, to allow Hellraider to build his tanks from the appropriate bases to counter. It is arguable whether this is better than building the first tank on day 4 or not.
Note: Hellraider points out that "delaying a tank was definitely the right choice because not having every infantry as soon as possible is so costly in HF."
Day 5 - Hellraider's turn
Roswell decides to abandon his capture and contest Hellraider's city in the south, and he also mirrors Hellraider and rushes in the north. However, he makes 3 mistakes.
1) He does not begin capturing the port, but rather sends that infantry 3 spaces south. This will reduce the amount of funding he has in a couple turns.
2) He moves his infantry from his southern base to the city 1N, 2E instead of the city 3S. This will leave his infantry on the front without support for one extra day.
3) He builds his tank on the wrong base. Remember that for Roswell the northern front is his strong front, but is also the front where he has the most properties to capture. This means that he should be trying to build infantry from that base; building the tank will delay his captures on the front where he has more properties, which will delay his funding.
A better turn would have looked more like this:
Roswell should have built the tank from either the middle or southern base, and deciding which base to build it from affects whether or not he can contest Hellraider's capture. If he builds from the middle base, his tank will not be able to get to the front in time to stop Hellraider from capturing the city. On the other hand, if he builds the tank from the southern base, that means he will not be able to capture the city 1N, 2E of the southern base on day 5. However, it is probably worth it to disrupt the capture of Hellraider's city and delay the capture of his own city, so Roswell should build the tank on the southern base (not the central base, as depicted).
Day 6 - Roswell's turn
As an end result, the game is already looking very bad for Roswell on day 6. He contests Hellraider's city, but has no support and essentially throws away his infantry without preventing Hellraider's capture - he merely delays it by a turn. He has a tank that will be sent to the southern front, but Hellraider has already built a counter tank for that front. Meanwhile, Hellraider has successfully denied Roswell his contested city on the northern front, has a backup inf and a 2:1 tank advantage as a result of FTA from the middle base. From here on out Roswell is fighting very lopsided odds, having been beaten down by FTA and his mistakes on day 4.
Here's what a slightly better version looks like for Roswell:
Day 6 (alternate) - Roswell's turn
Roswell is still in a lot of trouble due to Hellraider's FTA, but at least here he disrupts Hellraider's capture entirely. In reality, building the tank from the southern base instead of the north would likely force Hellraider to send his second tank south, which would also give Roswell a little help on the northern front. The added funding from the port and city captures would also allow him not to fall further behind in vehicle count and funding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In conclusion, the FTA on Color of Envy could be fixed using a few simple measures:
1) Move the backwards neutral base further back 4-6 spaces into the corners. This would still result in an advantage getting to the contested cities, but it would delay Player 1's supporting infantry enough that the imbalance would not allow Player 1 to unfairly disrupt Player 2's city while capturing their own.
2) Start with an even number of infantry. This has the same effect as #1; it delays the capture of the 3rd neutral base by a couple turns, lessening the effect of the imbalance on capture of the contested cities.
3) Move the cities or bases so that there are an even amount to be captured by both bases. This will alleviate the funding imbalance somewhat.
4) Make the contested cities slightly less contested.
New FTA counters for HF maps with 3 bases have been put in on newer maps like Morning Glory and Seven Devils. These counters are not yet perfect either, but they are a bit more balanced than on Color of Envy. Other improvements will no doubt have to be made as the HF metagame develops.
Stay tuned for more information on high funds gameplay as Season 6 of the Colosseum continues. In addition to better countering FTA issues, the CO tier list for high funds games still needs a lot of work and testing, and determining the finer points of gameplay (unit choice, general strategy, desirable map features, etc.) is ongoing as well.
Until next time,
Walker
Day 1 - Roswell's turn
The FTA counter on the map is different from FTA counters on normal maps - all of the bases start as neutral. On Color of Envy there are 3 neutral bases and 3 starting infantry per player, which is the root of the FTA issues. Because there are an odd number of bases, one player will be able to capture 2 bases first, while the other player will be able to capture only 1 base first. Here, the FTA counter is set so that Hellraider can capture one forward base (north or south, his choice) and the backwards base on the first turn. Whichever forward base Hellraider chooses to capture first will be the front that he will have the advantage on in the game, while Roswell will have the advantage on the opposite front - each player will be 1/2 turn ahead on their advantage fronts.
Because Hellraider gets to choose which front he will be 1/2 turn ahead on, it is advantageous for him to choose the side with more properties to be captured, so that he can gain funding quicker. On Color of Envy, this is the southern front. Below I've illustrated which base is responsible for capturing which properties
Red = northern base, Green = middle base, Blue = southern base.
As you can see, the northern base will capture 5 properties, the middle base will capture 3, and the southern base will capture 7. This will result in slight FTA, as Hellraider is able to make the better choice and take the advantage on the better front, which he does in the game. In addition Hellraider has the advantage from the central base, which means that he is able to capture 12 properties first (10 properties + 2 bases), while Roswell is able to only capture 6 first (5 properties + 1 base). Note that these numbers depend on the chosen capture phase somewhat, but any reasonable capture phase will result in a significant advantage in properties captured first for Player 1.
In addition to the funding advantage from being able to capture twice as many properties first, Hellraider also receives a positioning advantage from being able to capture two bases first. Two bases first means two infantry first, which means that Hellraider will have an infantry advantage in getting to the contested properties. This will be more easily shown as the game continues on.
Day 3 - Roswell's turn
On day 3 the initial effects of the FTA are apparent. Hellraider is 1/2 turn ahead on the southern front (he is beginning capture of the city 3W of his base before Roswell) and 1/2 turn behind on the northern front (finishing capture of the northern base after Roswell). But he is able to send an extra infantry north from the middle base, essentially canceling Roswell's advantage. The extra inf will allow Hellraider to contest Roswell's capture of the contested properties more easily than Roswell can on the opposite front.
Day 4 - Roswell's turn
Here you can see that Hellraider has chosen to rush for the contested city on the southern front by skipping the capture of the city 3W of the southern base. (In high funds games, it is becoming clear that rushing for contested properties is a much better strategy than in normal games. Because the properties are worth more, it is worth sacrificing a 1k infantry to prevent your opponent from capturing a city worth 2.5k. Therefore rushing for contested properties and either a) capturing your contested property cleanly or b) disrupting your opponent's capture of their contested property, is a cost-effective and smart strategy.) Hellraider has also chosen to skip the capture of the port on the northern front, and has sent his infantry (which came from the middle base, remember) to a position where it will be able to disrupt Roswell's capture of the contested city. This leaves Roswell in a bit of a predicament: in order to disrupt Hellraider's capture of the southern city, he has to abandon capturing his city. On the other hand, Hellraider is able to capture his city AND disrupt Roswell's capture, simply because he is a turn ahead from the central base.
It is also worth noting that Hellraider declines to build a tank this turn, although he has the money to afford it. However, he will be able to build 2 tanks next turn (with 15k). This allows Hellraider to a) build more infantry earlier in order to capture more properties and b) see where Roswell builds his first vehicle from, to allow Hellraider to build his tanks from the appropriate bases to counter. It is arguable whether this is better than building the first tank on day 4 or not.
Note: Hellraider points out that "delaying a tank was definitely the right choice because not having every infantry as soon as possible is so costly in HF."
Day 5 - Hellraider's turn
Roswell decides to abandon his capture and contest Hellraider's city in the south, and he also mirrors Hellraider and rushes in the north. However, he makes 3 mistakes.
1) He does not begin capturing the port, but rather sends that infantry 3 spaces south. This will reduce the amount of funding he has in a couple turns.
2) He moves his infantry from his southern base to the city 1N, 2E instead of the city 3S. This will leave his infantry on the front without support for one extra day.
3) He builds his tank on the wrong base. Remember that for Roswell the northern front is his strong front, but is also the front where he has the most properties to capture. This means that he should be trying to build infantry from that base; building the tank will delay his captures on the front where he has more properties, which will delay his funding.
A better turn would have looked more like this:
Roswell should have built the tank from either the middle or southern base, and deciding which base to build it from affects whether or not he can contest Hellraider's capture. If he builds from the middle base, his tank will not be able to get to the front in time to stop Hellraider from capturing the city. On the other hand, if he builds the tank from the southern base, that means he will not be able to capture the city 1N, 2E of the southern base on day 5. However, it is probably worth it to disrupt the capture of Hellraider's city and delay the capture of his own city, so Roswell should build the tank on the southern base (not the central base, as depicted).
Day 6 - Roswell's turn
As an end result, the game is already looking very bad for Roswell on day 6. He contests Hellraider's city, but has no support and essentially throws away his infantry without preventing Hellraider's capture - he merely delays it by a turn. He has a tank that will be sent to the southern front, but Hellraider has already built a counter tank for that front. Meanwhile, Hellraider has successfully denied Roswell his contested city on the northern front, has a backup inf and a 2:1 tank advantage as a result of FTA from the middle base. From here on out Roswell is fighting very lopsided odds, having been beaten down by FTA and his mistakes on day 4.
Here's what a slightly better version looks like for Roswell:
Day 6 (alternate) - Roswell's turn
Roswell is still in a lot of trouble due to Hellraider's FTA, but at least here he disrupts Hellraider's capture entirely. In reality, building the tank from the southern base instead of the north would likely force Hellraider to send his second tank south, which would also give Roswell a little help on the northern front. The added funding from the port and city captures would also allow him not to fall further behind in vehicle count and funding.
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In conclusion, the FTA on Color of Envy could be fixed using a few simple measures:
1) Move the backwards neutral base further back 4-6 spaces into the corners. This would still result in an advantage getting to the contested cities, but it would delay Player 1's supporting infantry enough that the imbalance would not allow Player 1 to unfairly disrupt Player 2's city while capturing their own.
2) Start with an even number of infantry. This has the same effect as #1; it delays the capture of the 3rd neutral base by a couple turns, lessening the effect of the imbalance on capture of the contested cities.
3) Move the cities or bases so that there are an even amount to be captured by both bases. This will alleviate the funding imbalance somewhat.
4) Make the contested cities slightly less contested.
New FTA counters for HF maps with 3 bases have been put in on newer maps like Morning Glory and Seven Devils. These counters are not yet perfect either, but they are a bit more balanced than on Color of Envy. Other improvements will no doubt have to be made as the HF metagame develops.
Stay tuned for more information on high funds gameplay as Season 6 of the Colosseum continues. In addition to better countering FTA issues, the CO tier list for high funds games still needs a lot of work and testing, and determining the finer points of gameplay (unit choice, general strategy, desirable map features, etc.) is ongoing as well.
Until next time,
Walker
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