RAGL Frontline Reports :: S06.1

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netnazgul
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RAGL Frontline Reports :: S06.1

Post by netnazgul »

New season of Red Alert Global League has started whether you have noticed that or not! Unexpectedly it was probably the most active start week for Masters since the dawn of the League, with only 5 matches getting delayed out of 12 (and even an additional match played ahead of schedule), so you may call it a success.

This might be due to twice the matches each week now, which coupled with the same max number of delays forces people to play their matches on schedule or else they'll just get encumbered with too many to be properly scheduled and played. Removal of any delay or rest weeks made the season even more packed and compact.

Unfortunately, a lot of capable players declined to join due to various RL excuses, which didn't allow to increase the player count to 16 players per group as it was originally planned, and pre-season qualifiers were also unneeded. You should expect all that next season for sure.


Notable weekly highlights

Season 6 Scoreboards and Fixtures thread.

Main highlight of the week was the industrious performance by WhoCares who managed to schedule and cover all his matches in several days and is now resting at the top of the table waiting on how his opponents fight against each other. Here's one of these matches casted by FiveAces:


:: ZxGanon 1-1 Upps
First match for ZxGanon in Masters produced what may surely be the upset of the week. As far as I remember, previously ZxGanon wasn't even defeated in a single game in across all tournaments in OpenRA that he took part in.
The first game on Badger Hills didn't show any signs of this feat failing, as ZxGanon denied a gren rush and then counterattacked with a 3-ranger rocket drop. And then did an exemplary micro move by denying MCV deploy while incoming infantry dismantled it into pieces:
Image

This was the decisive advantage in the game that ZxGanon easily converted into a win.

Second game on Oil Sands however turned out to be a flop. ZxGanon missed the usual scouting routine he always does and then didn't pay attention to a suspiciously high rifles count that killed his own, which allowed Upps to execute a successful all-in MCV push by setting up a forward base near Ganon's center ore patch and then streaming in, also blocking the WF exit with an ore truck while ZxGanon tried to get a new MCV out. A slight hesitation on pulling harvesters costed ZxGanon the game, as War Factory got downed and it was over.

:: FiveAces 2-0 Unano
Unano did almost a perfect score in Season 5 Minions, only losing a point to eskimo; but then lost 1-3 in playoffs to the same eskimo. Still, he's considered one of the most solid promoted players, and this match against FiveAces should have been a great test for that.

First game was Unano's pick of Forgotten Plains. Opening with a trio of Flaks, Unano tried to get hold of the game right away but this didn't give any positive results. The game progressed into mirror expansions and several confrontations in the middle, with Unano getting a slight advantage, but FiveAces managed to get straight into T2 in the process and Unano opting for more aggressive expansions. The fight along the middle of the map continued into stale trench wars with marginable results for both players and Unano downing the hind fleet of FiveAces at one point. Unano had a Radar, but didn't utilize it at all, only building 2 yaks through the whole game, while FiveAces progressed to T3 and overran the front with artillery, longbows and Tanya backing up the infantry force.

Game on Uzala was even less succesful for Unano, as his double gren rush was denied by a couple of rifles, then bad rally point costed him several rockets and a delayed ore truck, after which Unano just threw himself into an original MCV base push that failed to do any impact as well. There was a Service Depot for him and thus a second MCV as well, and FiveAces almost lost an expansion to that, but managed to survive the onslaught.

:: Zaqzorn 2-0 SirCake
Zaqzorn used to be a formidable force back in Season 2, getting tied with Smitty for the first place in Recruits Alpha and losing to Lorrydriver on the path of the hidden master. Unfortunately, he forfeited the following season and hasn't got into same form since, but "the memory remains" as you may say in this case. In the first week he clashed with SirCake, also a player returning to his previous levels of skill (Masters in Season 4).
Forgotten Plains saw SirCake attempting a very aggressive grenadiers play, with both rush and then a drop. The rush has only managed to attack into refinery before being killed, and the drop never came as its APC wandered back and forth stumbling into infantry squads and perishing uneventfully in the end. Zaqzorn's solid approach to the game prevented SirCake from profiting on cheese play in any capacity. Hijackers didn't contribute to anything too.

On Oil Sands there was a risky and unusual refinery first start by Zaqzorn, also buffed by a dog, while SirCake streamed a huge pack of grenadiers and rifles into opponent's base again. It looked promising as the numbers were in SirCake's favour, but barracks weren't destroyed, and all the infantry by SirCake got packed and then burned to a crisp by a flame tower. Instead of expanding or otherwise boosting his economy, SirCake did a follow-up also with an MCV, but this time Zaqzorn was prepared, and as his own rocket drop halved the harvester count for SirCake, he scaled the flank and leveled opponent's main base to the ground.


Also check last week's streams that included some RAGL action going on:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/324714335
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/323963709
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/324316969 (will expire in a week)


Events to watch for
We are still to see first games by Happy, Barf, Orb and eskimo as they all got their matches delayed. Surely you'd expect them to start picking points this week, cause there are not that many weeks left (five).

Also there is a late signup by lundiz, a competitive StarCraft II player who can definitely produce some quality games once he gets enough practice in. There might be some player replacements in Minions if people don't show up by the end of this week and pick up 3 strikes on their games. Regarding the matches of those who do show up, one can select Bain/Zaqzorn and mechANIC/Odourless pairs as potential top-table derbies.


Follow the competition through forums and Discord server and don't miss on weekly streams by FiveAces (Tuesday EU evenings) and netnazgul (whenever that may be, hopefully Friday EU evening)!

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kyrylo
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Re: RAGL Frontline Reports :: S06.1

Post by kyrylo »

Nice update, thanks! I've been watching some games and I'm pretty excited about the league.

> Regarding the matches of those who do show up, one can select Bain/Zaqzorn and mechANIC/Odourless pairs as potential top-table derbies.

We surely wait for these games to happen but come on, it's an OpenRA tradition where top contenders delay their games as much as possible. The gods of OpenRA should be happy now.

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netnazgul
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Re: RAGL Frontline Reports :: S06.1

Post by netnazgul »

As I was saying, this season [onward] it is expected to be much harder to delay games into the future, because of doubled match-per-week density. Mentioned quartet now has to play 2 additional matches on top of already scheduled ones.

camundahl
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Re: RAGL Frontline Reports :: S06.1

Post by camundahl »

Nice report, thank you!

noobmapmaker
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Re: RAGL Frontline Reports :: S06.1

Post by noobmapmaker »

fun read, thanks!

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