2023 Summer Invitational Group Stage

[NOC-]

Zlo sub for Winter, Gorthaur sub for System Failure and Bully sub for Loxpooig
Group d 1 short

[ovenman]

gg

[Sylph_]

@ovenman Well played both!
(TURBO2/Gorthaur's use of that transport was lovely!)
Were those colours chosen specifically to make observing difficult?

(Being more serious, I'd love to know if there's a way to stop all the glowing that makes colours so difficult to differentiate (team colour mode doesn't work with observer mode) - especially when such ambiguous colours are allowed! It's ridiculously hard to tell the difference between colours right now; I'm not even colourblind (god help them here!).)

[Sladow-Noob]

@sylph_ It's the option "Bloom" which you can turn on/off. Basically every high ranked has it turned off cuz it's e.g. impossible to tell what units / ACUs are alive during an ACU-explosion, same with mex spots on white maps, but iirc Blodir has it turned on. You have to get used to it a little until you can just "read" stuff normally, but I can see why it could be a pain to watch sometimes.

[Sylph_]

@sladow-noob That's very useful, thanks!
(Turns out, I had mine set to max! The orange units literally looked more yellow that the yellow ones if near extractors 'pulsing' or under shields!
While things look a little dull with it off or low, it definitely looks like it'll help me make things out ingame now.)

[ovenman]

@sylph_ said in 2023 Summer Invitational Group Stage:

Were those colours chosen specifically to make observing difficult?

I'm trying to unlock the gold acu bonus.

[NOC-]

Group A Winners:
Yudi and Nory

Group B Winners:
Shen and Zlo

Group C Winners:
Grimplex & Rowan

Group D Winners:
Turbo2 and Gorthaur

[NOC-]

Map Pool for final 8 posted

[MostLostNoob]

Did things get straitened out so that this can be casted on FAFlive?

[NOC-]

Bully replaced by Grimplex as sub
Rowan replaced by Espi as sub

[Sylph_]

Ok, nobody wants all this reading, but someone might enjoy viewing how their individual matches struck (and entertained) the eyes of a lowly gold.

Bracketed letters = faction and start location.
Ratings /10 are for entertainment.

If I got names mixed up, I'm sorry. Different names for the same player confuse me. The challonge page confuses me more. Asking on discord confuses me the most of all.

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• Summer invitational top 8 writeup:

ZLO vs Balanceslave : 7Oct2023 3:11pm-4:41pm Result: ZLO, ZLO
2 early-game 'cheese' attacks knock Balanceslave out of the tournament early. They were short enough to be pretty entertaining and educational matches, though! :

6/10 : Cadmium Green : Balanceslave(S,SE) skips raiding selens and goes straight for thaams, while ZLO(A,NW) builds flares. ZLO commits to early air superiority with 2 air factories and intercepts the southern airspace. Ground combat begins in the NE mass field. Upon seeing resistance, Balanceslave's ACU moves north to assist, while static anti-air defence covers the base. ZLO seems to forget the mass point behind the base, or it could just be seeking an airpower lead, as ZLO builds more transports and loads up flares for 4 ghetto gunships! With a significant mass lead in Balanceslave's hands, a 5th transport joins the 4 armed chariots, and the aeon ghettos embark with fighter support, destroying Balanceslave's ACU before the land and ground advantage can be brought to bear.

4/10 : Mapgen 10x10 : Swapping races, ZLO(S,W) does use selens, and with a tiny distance between the 2, Balanceslave(A,E)'s flares destroy the selens despite sound attempts to kite. ZLO threatens with the ACU while building bombers, which deal heavy damage to balanceslave's power infrastructure, before turning on the ACU for an even quicker victory.

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Turbo2 vs Nory: 7Oct2023 3:19pm-4:39pm Result: Turbo, Nory, Turbo
Nory plays fantastically: though Turbo2 lands incredible early-game catches, Nory keeps up and sometimes leads in eco. Great games featuring lots of tech and smarts on both sides. :

7/10 : Zerg Canyon : Turbo(A,E) and Nory(S,W) both start similarly, Nory prioritising power, Turbo2 MEXes. Nory's 2nd-air bomber falls to Turbo2's psychic powers (or maybe research/luck!). Nory expands, mixing in some antiair- but not enough to down dropships, which halt Nory's aggressive economic expansion. Turbo2 uses aurora range to harass the NW excellently, and ACUs stay central. The toughness of thaams vs aurora allows Nory to punch a hole in Turbo2's southern front; just as the 2 players begin tier 2. Turbo techs air; Nory, land. After queuing spectre gunships and t2 transports, Turbo2 tech-switches, powering T3 land factories in the east, while Nory puts the eco advantage into ilshavohs. North aurora and south spectres reverse Nory's MEX lead, as ilshavoh prove too slow to protect the west. Turbo2 powers harbingers, 2 dropping to the SW as gunships take defence duty. Nory's T3 othuums roll out and clean all flanks; including a 32-kills dropped harbinger!
Sadly, by the time othuums secure western lines, damage is done, via Turbo's huge 201-80 mass income lead (250%!) Nory prods the only promising front, with upgraded ACU contesting the centre/north mountaintops. Harbingers respond, wounding the ACU and forcing its retreat; but it's too late... A shocker (T3 bomber), returning from a sortie bombing energy, deals the coup-de-grace.

1/10 : Crazyrush : Turbo2(U,N) gets a great Janus attack before each player smashes units into one another for 20 minutes. Nory(U,S) does a nice raid and a few T1 bombing runs. Then turbo tries to distract Nory with a chat question while tactical missiles head to Nory's ACU. Nory doesn't fall for it. Finally, Turbo2's ACU dies of boredom.

6/10 : Darkfall : Against Nory(U,E)'s early bomber, Turbo2(U,W) reacts incredibly, again managing to stop a bomber without losing a single unit, this time via engineer micro. Nory enters the NW forest quickly, which is a good call given how quickly Turbo2's 4 engineers are reclaiming anything in range of the cliffs! At first aggressive, Nory's ACU eases off as each player take the mountaintops to the north and south. Nory sneaks a nice artillery SW to weaken the PD on the southern front, while Turbo raids NE using strikers, but neither flank falls. Turbo2 builds a proxy factory to steal some of the SE forest's resources while the central combat is locked up.
At 10 minutes, pillars hit the field, and though no point defence roots the battle lines the map stays surprisingly static (besides Turbo2's drop on the southern moumtaintops) as Nory, E, upgrades a T2 suite and gun, and Turbo2, W, ACU gun + land factories. With the southern mountaintops stolen, Turbo2's pillars push the north, stealing even more important ground. Nory tests the centre, but both ACUs have enough mobile shields and pillars to stand ground. With no way to break the centre, and recognising the economic cost that losing the north and south has exerted, Nory taps out.

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Yudi vs Gorthaur: 7Oct2023 3:30pm-3:55pm Result: Yudi, Yudi
The 30% balance was a huge ask. Gorthaur played solidly, but got "caught out" by Yudi in both games. Yudi presented no opportunities for a comeback, with aggressive but airtight play. :

2/10 : Mapgen 17x17 : Gorthaur(U,NW) prioritises power for an early transport, but takes a huge setback when Yudi(U,SE) (air second) successfully scouts & hunts down the transport over water, killing 5 engineers and a mechmarine! Yudi has excellent interceptor control, good bombing, and good raiding, securing the early game with an unstoppable lead despite Gorthaur downing a transport.

3/10 : Point of Reach : Both players take Aeon. Gorthaur(A,S) goes 2x air, but Yudi(A,N)'s land-air build gets a transport first. Gorthaur spots it, and forces it to drop and land on the water. Still, Yudi gets stronger air power, and manages to re-embark on the chariot, attempting to take the eastern island. Gorthaur challenges this with bombing runs from south to east, while dropping engineers to construct a point defence. Yudi quickly reacts with existing engineers mirroring the point defence, and by a hair's breadth manages to get one built first, winning the PD-race.
This all ultimately progresses into Yudi securing control of the eastern island, giving a lead in economy, air power, and navy. Recognising that the east is lost, Gorthaur reacts by contesting the western island, but sees that resistance is strong there, too, and surrenders.

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God_Of_Roadkill v Shen: 7Oct2023 3:33pm-4:21pm Result: God_Of_Roadkill, draw, God_Of_Roadkill
Shen was clearly very strong, usually ahead in economy. Without God_Of_Roadkill's VERY keen eye for weaknesses, Shen would have gone much further. A Rare case of eco NOT being enough! :

7/10 : Loki : Shen(C,SW) goes air-first, deals significant damage, and takes a lead. A transport is used to expand this lead, but God_Of_Roadkill(C,NE) gets interceptors & thus air dominance. A lack of artillery on both sides makes point defence useful, but newfound air control allows God_Of_Roadkill to contest Shen's NW PD. Shen gives up on air here, and pushes land, getting a slight economic lead, and establishing control of the ground. With the surrender of the skies, God_Of_Roadkill's bomber has a field-day, dealing impressive damage before being shot down. Shen secures the lead with an upgraded MEX, while building enough land to easily take both neutral corners of the map(and more)!
Meanwhile, God_Of_Roadkill's ACU embarks to the SE to retake the corner (or perhaps escape!), as the production of a hunter-killer team of jesters begins. Just as Shen's tanks begin to demolish God_Of_Roadkill's defenceless base, the Jesters, safe due to the interceptors work throughout the battle, home in on Shen's northern ACU. Anti-air weapons try to defend the commander, in vain.

8/10 : Darkfall : This time, God_Of_Roadkill(S,W) counter-demonstrates an air-first build; shen(S,E) goes for a fast scout and, spotting the bombers, gets enough anti-air to nullify the first strike. Follow-up bombers are slightly more successful, but not enough, and God_Of_Roadkill is far behind by the time Shen has interceptors - 4-minutes. Shen presses this advantage, uses transports to take southern mountaintops, and postures aggressively with a forward ACU. Perhaps a little over-confident, Shen's attack on God_Of_Roadkill's base fails, but retreats in time, ensuring that the massive advantage in numbers and resources is preserved.
God_Of_Roadkill challenges Shen's central ACU, seeing a chance for a draw, which looks incredibly tempting! As Shen's units trip and slow God_Of_Roadkill's persuing ACU, Shen escapes from weapon range. God_Of_Roadkill, despite being healthy, self-destructs to force a draw - obviously aware of the economic advantage Shen holds.

5/10 : Rematch : Neither God_Of_Roadkill(S,W) nor Shen(S,E) tries air-first this time. God_Of_Roadkill commits to raiding earlier, while Shen goes for an earlier hydro. Both use the cliff-reclaim darkfall is known for, through a quiet 5 minutes before ACUs take to the field. Shen is the first to transport engineers to the southern mountaintops. The drop's spotted by God_Of_Roadkill's selen, and the transport killed after dropping. Meanwhile, God_Of_Roadkill transports engineers to the northern mountaintops uncontested.
Shen's economic lead falls to God_Of_Roadkill's penchant for raiding. Just then, both players power-stall at 7-mins when cliff-reclaim ends. God_Of_Roadkill's MEX raids spur solid reactions, and Shen's forest Selen doesn't deny the northern forest engineers, deadlocking the territory and economy. Shen gets T2 land, but builds only T2 engineers, while God_Of_Roadkill chooses the gun upgrade instead, using it to assassinate Shen's ACU.

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ZLO vs Yudi: 7oct2023 4:21pm-4:43pm Result: Yudi, Yudi
A 1st, very unlucky game may have thrown ZLO's decision-making off for the 2nd. While we might expect Yudi to win, the form that win took was surprisingly 1-sided. :

1/10 : Crazyrush : Yudi(S,N) Deals more damage with the first raid, then destroys 5 engineers with a well-controlled bomber, causing ZLO(S,S) to move on to the next game.

3/10 : Mapgen 10x10 : Yudi(U,NE) mirrors ZLO(U,SW)'s build, killing 1 engi with a mechmarine. Both players bomb 2 engineers, but ZLO also takes out 5 pgens with an incredible bomber! Unfortunately, whether through a mistake (build-order?) or on purpose, ZLO doesn't replace those southern engineers for ages. Yudi uses land raids to good effect, equalising the economies. Now, though, it felt as though '5 power & 2 engis' wasn't enough to sate ZLO's desire to revenge-bomb Yudi after game 1! Either that, or perhaps the only option that came to mind for ZLO was 'bombers by the bucketload' as the land factories struggled to replace the engineers and stop raiders.
Yudi doesn't miss a beat, pressuring with transported land units (even a brief ghetto), establishing a territorial lead. ZLO, unable to repeat the bomber's success, but unwilling to be slowly constricted, drives a bold land push through the south-east and heading north; Yudi being driven all the way back to base; and ZLO smashing a forward outpost to boot! While retreating, though, Yudi sneaks strikers past the SE attackers and disables much of ZLO's base. With a base under attack, ZLO's army is denied reinforcements, and is choked out in the north outside Yudi's base. Only ZLO's ACU remains, trapped while retreating up a dead-end alone.

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God_Of_Roadkill vs Turbo2 : 7oct2023 4:57pm-5:44pm Result: Turbo2, Draw, Turbo2
God_Of_Roadkill plays superbly; a tight defence, no misplays. Matches often seem they could go either way, but over time favour Turbo2's uncanny ability to create an eco lead out of nothing. :

5/10 : Zerg Canyon : God_Of_Roadkill(C,NE) opts for very early scouts, while Turbo2(U,SW) uses no scouts nor harass. Air-second for both works well for God_Of_Roadkill's quick bomber, destroying 6 units (5 engineers), but this doesn't seem to slow Turbo2 down, with both establishing the same factories and economy at minute 5. Shortly after, Turbo2 begins to take a minor economic lead, despite God_Of_Roadkill's higher reclaim, equally sized military, and excellent bomber.
As the income lead increases, both move to tech 2, but Turbo2 stockpiles energy with 4 storages, and as soon as the teching is finished, begins gun, then nano, on the ACU. Both upgrade base MEXes. By minute 12, Turbo2 has managed, with no decisive combat, to get 150% of God_Of_Roadkill's income, as well as a larger army, and a double-upgraded commander... Then the tech 3 upgrade finishes, not long after God_Of_Roadkill's! God_Of_Roadkill's loyalists march west over the northern hills, while in the centre Turbo2's ACU doesn't even join the 'big push' into God_Of_Roadkill's territory. That push gets deep into cybran lines, briefly being speedbumped by a pack of renegades, but ultimately doing huge damage to God_Of_Roadkill's base extractors. The loyalists in the north do make an impact, but it's on an outpost, not a main, and Turbo2's lead increases to 300% of God_Of_Roadkill's economy, which is enough to win the field via surrender.

9/10 : Emerald Crater : God_Of_Roadkill(C,N)'s scouts spot Turbo2(C,S)'s bomber, making Turbo2 use caution and fly round the north-east MEX zone (1 eng dies), before bombing the base with good interceptor support. God_Of_Roadkill prevents further damage though. God_Of_Roadkill uses transports and takes the western contested midzone. Turbo2 harasses and takes contested territory well, securing all 4 corners; but God_Of_Roadkill does hold the west and east midpoints securely. Turbo2 upgrades air, while God_Of_Roadkill takes back corner territory and secures a mass lead while powering a large land attack into Turbo's base. 26 of Turbo's engineers scurry to build renegades to defend - successfully repelling the attack.
God_Of_Roadkill maintains a slight income lead, and prepares another large land army to attack Turbo2's southern base + ACU. Shortly before it arrives, an attack squad of corsairs and renegades rush God_Of_Roadkill's ACU in the east, nearly destroying it. Seemingly a fan of this map, (or more likely knowing the main was about to be lost!) Turbo2 carries the ACU over the top of the wounded God_Of_Roadkill, and suicides for a draw!

4/10 : Rematch : Both cybran again, there are no bombing runs before transports as Turbo(C,S) quickly lands on the western 'neutral' plateau. Each take their eastern MEX clusters, and God_Of_Roadkill(C,N)'s tanks assist the ACU in taking the eastern plateau. While God_Of_Roadkill also drops to secure the central area, Turbo is the one with a 20% mass lead, exacerbated by a brief power stall from God_Of_Roadkill and a good raid to God_Of_Roadkill's NW corner. God_Of_Roadkill struggles to change this lead, while Turbo2's numerous engineers (14 this time) again power-build a tech 2 air. God_Of_Roadkill is clearly on the back foot here, responsing to attacks rather than executing them, and it takes a toll, with Turbo2's economy having increased to 200% of God_Of_Roadkill's as the renegades start being built. Before ever having seen what's coming, God_Of_Roadkill understands the map control, and surrenders.

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Final :
Yudi vs Turbo2: 8oct2023 5:35pm-9:22pm Result: Turbo, Turbo, Yudi, Draw, Turbo
A great final for the tournament. Both players were well-matched, and used a good variety of units and tactics for varied, even games. :

10/10 : Mapgen 20x20 : With the map being quite large, and lots of movement-obstructing terrain, both players make transports a high priority. Turbo2(U,NW) embarks first, 4 engineers heading south for MEXes. Patient Yudi(U,SE) carries 6. Turbo2 demonstrates more inclination to make bombers, despite both getting a second air factory - though Yudi cleverly spots an edge-building opportunity on a mapgen for that second air. With Turbo2's bomber heading SE, and Yudi's marines NW, the action lulls when neither player has the power to build what they want to. At least in Yudi's case that's mostly 6 engineers making power gens; Turbo2 really wants more transports! It's a good job, too, as interceptors invades Turbo2's SW airspace, bagging the old transport.
Turbo2's next drop, north, drops 3 engis to reclaim a mechmarine - but Yudi's keen eye sees and saves- momentarily!
Turbo2 starts bombing Yudi's important rocks in the SE, while engineers secure MEXes (and kill MMs). Yudi leads in eco, despite fewer transports, and upgrades MEXes first and more often to maintain the lead as tech 2 looms. Both concurrently tech air and ground to tier 2, Yudi popping out a few T2 transports, then straight on to T3!
Early tech 3 involves Yudi's T2 gunship raids while prioritising land for T3 (titans), while Turbo2 Prioritises air to get T3 air superiority (and also end the eco lead!) The region suddenly seems to erupt with titans - many of which push Turbo2 off the mountaintops. The NE paths now feature armies led by titans vs armies led by titans, and the SW zone features armies led by titans fighting armies with no titans (Turbo2 prioritised T3 air, something had to give, so Turbo2 had no titans coming from the NW to help the SW battle!). Still, Turbo2 makes a few PD to discourage the advance.
Tech 3 develops with Turbo2 securing air control, and Yudi's SE forces having better T3 ground, eventually penetrating the SW for good damage. Turbo2 has more varied armies though, with good spread of flak and shields to help titans hold the NE. Turbo2 uses great titan drops, with Yudi unable to intercept or despatch raiders with gunships due to Turbo2's control of the air. Meanwhile, Yudi's SW push is stopped with stingers. Yudi adapts, mixing percivals for ranged attacks to break the NE stalemate, and Flak to cover the SW titan's weakness to air. This lets Yudi start gaining ground, crucial for reclaim!
While both the NE and SW flanks are strongly contested, Turbo2 just seems to have decided keep expanding air, after recently building a lot of T3 land factories dangerously close to the front lines in the NE. Turbo2 spends time hunting with a pack of stingers, and deploying the odd titan drop or tactical missile. Neither player can seem to grow economically (perhaps they don't know that right-clicking doesn't upgrade MEXes?!), but it's not a stalemate - Yudi once again breaks through in the SW, this time prompting a 'last stand' line of titans positioning to defend the NW base - enough to hold for precious seconds as the ACU castles to a nearby mountain, and a wing of T3 ambassador bombers flies directly over to Yudi's ACU and drops an obscenity of explosions to close the game

4/10 : Bermuda Locket : Yudi(S,SE) really delays the first transport, while Turbo2(U,NW) loses the first transport to interceptors after dropping engineers on the western leaf. While both ACUs move east, an interesting fight for the west ensues, with seraphim transport strength showing when 8 engineers disembark and rapidly build a PD and factory! Lobos end up being enough to clear it up though, prompting Yudi to fast-tech to T2 air. With a slight mass advantage from performing better in the west, Turbo2 starts an ACU gun upgrade for the upcoming eastern battle. Yudi gets 11 vulthoos and flies them over to gun down said ACU. By the time they arrive, enough interceptors are swarming to counter, and Yudi drops a joke about who's bad before quitting.

5/10 : Loki : The match begins with Turbo2(A,NE)'s flares meeting Yudi(C,SW)'s mantis in the centre. The outcome is no surprise, and the mantis move on to block any engineers coming to claim Turbo2's 'mountain 3' mex points near the NE start. Turbo's first shimmer bombs 2 of a trio of engineers before they can cross the western water, but the 3rd makes a nuisance of itself dodging one bomb after another, until interceptors can arrive. Aurora finish the 'guarding' mantis in the NE, clearing the way for the mountain mexes, and Yudi's first zeus aims bombs at the hydrocarbon construction in the east, exterminating both engineers with a bit of throwaway anger for the trouble. Said zeus then visits Turbo's base, and delivers devastating bombs for another 7 engineers.
Turbo2, heavily on the back foot now, goes into damage control and economy recovery, engineers MEXing the SE via Turbo2's signature tranport, while a second transport is begun and Turbo2's ACU heads NW. Yudi makes mantis and jesters while the cybran ACU also moves to the NW quadrant. This is spotted by aeon aurora that begin harassment, while Turbo2's ACU finishes constructing a point defence, then moves closer to help. Yudi brings the jesters in to ambush Turbo's ACU, and despite it running back to the point defence, the cybran gunships and ACU do far too much damage for the point defence to help.

6/10 : DarkFall : Turbo2(U,E) opts for 2 'cliff reclaim' engineer, whereas Yudi(U,W) uses none! Yudi establishes air more quickly, and sends a scorcher over the north before a single shot has been fired. Perhaps expecting this, Turbo2 guides an interceptor to keenly guard the base, thwarting this threat. Yudi is quicker to take the forward MEXes, while Turbo2 has slightly more ground forces. They're not put to good use, dying at Yudi's front door. Meanwhile, Turbo2 expands in the central area while flying engineers to the southern mountaintops, only to find that Yudi got there first! Yudi wins the ensuing reclaim battle, too! Despite getting the southern mountains, Turbo2 has a significant eco lead now, having fought harder in the middle, forcing Yudi off the centre of the map, then securing it with point defence. Just as Turbo sends bombers to disrupt the southern mountains, Yudi makes a big drive for the centre, forcing Turbo2's ACU to the point defence as reinforcements close.
Despite not having overcharge (and Turbo2 having it!), Yudi manages to do lots of damage to Turbo2, contesting the middle area again, and in turn evening out economies. Turbo2 brings the bombers from their various tasks around the map, to focus on hurting Yudi's aggressively-postured ACU. Still without overcharge, Yudi just pumps a stream of strikers into the ongoing ACU fight, and Turbo2 reciprocates. Despite both being in danger, neither ACU acts too eager to back down, so the two continue to slug one another with antimatter cannons. The overcharge function, netting a lot more kills on Yudi's never-ending tank stream, allows Turbo2's ACU to gain a veterancy level, taking a sudden, significant lead. Yudi reacts well, managing to get clear of the antimatter range, but the bombers circling above are still a problem with no solution. Turbo2's ACU isn't in the clear either, as Yudi's tanks just keep coming, but by a miracle, both ACUs make it out alive.
Turbo2's engineers are now encroaching Yudi's resource-rich northern forest, and each player tries to get a foothold inthe mountains, with drop after drop of tide-turning combat squads. The latest drop was Yudi's, but while it was prepared, Turbo2 advanced to tech2, and started to produce pillars to challenge Yudi's far more numerous army, and Januses, likely to try to finish off the ACU before it managed much self repair. The Januses fly over the raging tank battle in the centre, dropping a huge carpet of bombs on the badly damaged commander before bafflingly turning their attention to the northern mountains!Yudi pushes with tanks again, but it's ineffective and would be wasteful to continue. Both ACUs take a few steps out of sight range, and start upgrading guns, as Yudi's army is ever-increasing, and Turbo2 has completely forgone land unit production, leaving the commander alone on the field, to focus all efforts on air-to-ground attack. Engineers assist Yudi's injured commander in building the gun, then they move immediately on to a nano repair upgrade, powering the construction so quickly, it's finished before Turbo2's nano repair even begins! Soon after, Yudi pushes the newly-repaired commander forward, and Turbo2 has to cancel nano, wasting the 70% spent on it, to run.
Reacting to Yudi's aggression, Turbo2 finally orders the air-to-ground units to attack Yudi's commander, which has about 50% health from point-defence fire. Yudi performs some great dodges, buying precious seconds while the ground army can damage the enemy ACU, and with the 3rd bombing pass, both commanders go up together.

7/10 : Rematch : Yudi(U,E) does reclaim the trees this time! Turbo2(U,W) builds more factories, presumably experting forest income. Yudi gets a transport sent south quickly again, but this one has trouble navigating high terrain and gets its cargo destroyed by interceptors. Turbo commits more to holding mountains this time, as Yudi wrestles with transport controls near high terrain. The land battle in the centre is much more even this time, too! Income is similar, but Turbo2 manages to reach tech:2 faster. After beginning pillar production, Turbo also researches gun and nano - likely to ensure a win in any ACU vs ACU fights! Yudi isn't lagging though, with T2 units and a gun upgrade to match!
Turbo2 again demonstrates a willingness to mix in supporting units in the army, this time a small number of parashields to tank, and some mobile missile launchers to poke at Yudi, particularly vs static defences. During the teching and the expanding and upgrading, though, Yudi has been upgrading mass extractors, getting 137% of Turbo2's mass income. This promising lead is slightly hampered by a blunder into PD fire, which half-kills Yudi's ACU and kills any ability to be aggressive before nano but there's no pressure to attack with an economic lead.
Not one to play passive, though, Yudi tries to manouver this larger army around the PD fire-zone, which spreads the land forces a little thin. Turbo2 sees an opportunity here, and launches a counter-attack to Yudi's northern resource areas, but Yudi stops it without much trouble. Turbo2 continues to be surprisingly passive, given the nano ACU upgrade, choosing to build artillery instead of engaging and having the ACU tank damage. Just as T3 land units start to hit the field, Yudi starts flapjack production to deal with the forward buildings that are popping up, but Turbo2's commander engages them with an upgraded overcharging gun. Meanwhile Turbo2 launches tactical missiles to damage Yudi's infrastructure in the main base, reducing reinforcements while taking a lead in income.
Developments slow down as the armies struggle to get a lead on one another, and Yudi starts to build a shield upgrade for the ACU, until Turbo2's tactical missile launcher manages to land a hit on the stationary ACU, very nearly destroying it and forcing Yudi to cancel the shield that was under construction! This puts Yudi in danger from sudden 'ACU snipes', stifling aggression. A battallion of percivals replace Yudi's ACU though, holding well until Turbo2 lands a bombing run on Yudi's fusion power stations, slowing production. Still, Yudi manages to finish the energy-expensive shield, allowing the ACU some breathing room so it can rejoin the fight. By now, though, Turbo2 is very dug-in and hard to shift, so Yudi launches a final chat offensive before leaving, letting Turbo2 know for sure it's a well-deserved tournament victory.

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Fight for 3rd:
ZLO vs God_Of_Roadkill : 8oct2023 3:22pm-5:04pm Result: ZLO, ZLO, draw, ZLO
ZLO seems to use the opportunity for some 'outside the box' play, while God_Of_Roadkill seems to have lost the fire previously shown. Still, it wasn't easy for ZLO, particularly the 3rd match! :

5/10 : Mapgen 10x10 : ZLO(U,S) cuts engineers to build numerous early strikers, which kill plenty of God_Of_Roadkill(S,N)'s engineers and selens. Despite the first scorcher's napalm proving devastating to God_Of_Roadkill's power construction, both players get power-stalled after a shimmer bomber also hits a few generators. The strikers have paid off though, and all of God_Of_Roadkill's expansion efforts, aside from the ACU moving the the east, have been terminated, halving the respective mass income. God_Of_Roadkill's decent counter-offensive in the west balances the economy while ZLO's ACU takes (late) to the field begins an ACU gun upgrade. ZLO abandons economy, obviously seeking to use that early lead to close the battle early, and the upgraded ACU leads a significant army into the (now point-defended) eastern spot held by God_Of_Roadkill's ACU. The ACU attempts a defence, but ultimately the gun upgrade proves too much.

2/10 : Arcane : Both players disrupt the valuable 'pocket' expansion behind the base, though ZLO(U,SE)'s flares kill mexes more effectively than God_Of_Roadkill(S,NW)'s selens. God_Of_Roadkill sends engineers to fortify the NE flank, and is again quicker to move out with the ACU, securing the west, and gathering more mass for doing so. ZLO spots the western ACU, and responds with a large land push on the opposite NE flank, while moving an ACU to match. God_Of_Roadkill's Point defence in the NE is attacked that ZLO built pre-emptively, allowing ZLO to take the NE. ZLO's NW attack proves extremely successful, taking out the fortified NE, and moving on to God_Of_Roadkill's base, securing a huge economic lead while the UEF ACU loses only a little ground in the west. ZLO uses all the mass on tanks to help in the ACU combat, which then becomes 1-sided, constricting God_Of_Roadkill's ACU in an ACU-led UEF horde.

8/10 : Mapgen 20x20 : With a battlefield confusingly water-dominated, ZLO(U,W) finally moves the ACU out early, in order to take what little land there is, in the centre. God_Of_Roadkill(C,E) instead opts for early naval infrastructure, and uses engineers for the central island, with ACU following shortly. ZLO forgoes navy for more air power, and uses it to clear the skies for bombing raids. God_Of_Roadkill's frigates and mobile antiair prevent bombing damage, as the ACUs draw a line in the (middle)sand. ZLO has been quicker to take the submerged MEX points, owning the north and challenging in the south, while developing tech 2 air. Seeing antiair in the contested middle, ZLO retreats, building point defence to buy time while building a "Stinger and Janus" squad. However, God_Of_Roadkill predicts this and builds anti-air to nullify the attempt on the ACU.
Now secure with flak in the middle island, ZLO's air struggle to leverage an advantage over God_Of_Roadkill's land; though the air side has a large lead in economy. God_Of_Roadkill's drops are futile against the fast T2 air, but the middle, with flak, remains untouchable, prompting ZLO to resort to light navy to harass ZLO's eastern base. When ZLO commits the T2 air squad to God_Of_Roadkill's base, it's shot down by more flak, while God_Of_Roadkill's ACU begins an (incredibly clever) torpedo upgrade. After completion, God_Of_Roadkill's land forces push ZLO off the last yard of the central island, but when ZLO enters the water, the genius torpedo upgrade springs to work and almost kills ZLO before getting back to base. Seeing that ZLO made it to dry land, and with more bombers circling, God_Of_Roadkill detonates the ACU reactor to force a draw.

2/10 : Rematch : A weary-seemingly God_Of_Roadkill(C,E) commits more heavily to air this time, while ZLO(U,W) works on getting a strong economy, through underwater expansion and upgrade MEXes in base. Both commanders again meet in the centre, but there is far less battle this time, with point defence and few land units. 2 huge air groups pretty much stalemate the skies, too, leaving naval units responsible for all the excitement. ZLO's submarines and frigates take the northern waters decisively, and an un-noticed engineer drop manages to reclaim God_Of_Roadkill's naval factory in the southern seas. ZLO builds a bit of air-to-ground, but attacking God_Of_Roadkill's eastern base with it proves ineffective due to flak and interceptor swarms. God_Of_Roadkill responds with a good counterattack, getting wagners into ZLO's base, but the gunships quickly come to defend before much damage is done. God_Of_Roadkill then upgrades the ACU with T3, followed by stealth, before gift-wrapping it in the arms of a Dragon Fly and sending it straight to ZLO.

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Well done Turbo2!

(And before anyone says it - I know, I type too much. I get free time, sorry!)

If anyone dislikes anything I wrote about them, please let me know, and I'll remove it immediately. I have major respect for everyone I watched here!

[Sylph_]

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