The final weekend of Alliance Tournament XIV was packed full of explosions with 2 special edition Etanas and one Adrestia being forever lost from Tranquility. The Tuskers Co and WE FORM V0LTA both lost their flagship Bhaalgorn. This setback was not enough to stop Tuskers from coming back from a loss to Pandemic Legion on day 1, and defeating Pandemic Legion in the finals 3-2. Tuskers in first place will take home 25 Rabisus and 25 Caedes, Pandemic Legion will receive 15 of each, while V0LTA gets 7 of each and Northern Coalition placing fourth gets 3 of each in addition to 16 PLEX each and numerous unique SKINS.
Day 1:
Day 1 saw the first two elimination series between Exodus vs. Phoebe Freeport Republic and Northern Coalition vs. Paisti Syndicate. Exodus won their first match decisively, choosing to bring a Barghest/Typhoon Fleet Issue core against the 5 navy battle cruisers of PFR. Northern Coalition defeated Paisti Syndicate losing only a single Vigil with their standard Typhoon fleet core against a RLML/LML comp from Paisti. Both victors had a quick turnaround time before their next match against V0LTA and Afterlife respectively. In a seven-minute nailbiter, V0LTA defeated Exodus destroying the Etana piloted by Per Ole in the process. Afterlife also chose to field an Etana in their match against NC which was destroyed making it the fourth Etana lost this alliance tournament.
Pandemic Legion’s first match against The Tuskers came down to a 1v1 which was decided after the PL Phobos of Destoya was lost due to boundary violation with 37 seconds left in the match. Match one in Northern Coalition’s series against V0LTA saw a Malice fielded by V0LTA. Heavy ECM coming from the double blackbirds on both sides worked out better for V0LTA who won 100-0 over NC. Another Malice was fielded by Pandemic Legion in match two of their series against Tuskers. ECM was once again seen on both teams. After the full ten minutes of time, PL emerged victorious 80-40. In the next match, V0LTA vs. NC, both teams traded logistics immediately. NC then decided to clear the support while V0LTA focused on eliminating NC’s Barghests. V0LTA’s command ships were able to outlast the rest of the NC. team thanks to their massive buffer and abundant utility. V0LTA took this match 97-45 winning them the series. The final match between PL and Tuskers saw both teams bring Barghest cores with PL taking the victory 100-27.
Day 2:
Three teams remained standing at the start of day 2: V0LTA, Tuskers and reigning champions; Pandemic Legion. The first match saw V0LTA defeat Tuskers who chose to field their flagship piloted by Suleiman Shouaa. He managed to survive 4 minutes by himself thanks to the help of 2 mobile microjump units that are placed around the arena. The flagship made a reappearance in the next match that Tuskers clinched from V0LTA 100-60. To decide the series we saw both teams field their flagships leading to an 18+ billion ISK killmail of V0LTA’s Bhaalgorn.
The finals of Alliance Tournament XIV pitted Pandemic Legion up against The Tuskers Co. Pandemic Legion received a one match advantage because they had come through the winners bracket undefeated. PL traded the first match for a chance to destroy Tusker’s flagship Bhaalgorn, putting it out of commission for any later matches. This significantly weakened any comp with the flagship in it because the massive control that officer webs and neuts offered was gone.
Pandemic Legion won the next match in what was a near mirror setup. They chose to bring a limited edition Malice over a second Purifier. They took the match 100-44 with their Malice surviving. Match three of the series was riddled with technical issues. Both sides experienced numerous disconnects and modules lagging or simply not activating at all. PL chose to boundary violate most of their team. CCP reiterated the rule that the simulation is to be taken as is and the match result would stand. Both teams were now tied 2-2 going into the final match of AT XIV. PL brought a Barghest core while Tuskers used Sleipnirs and RLML cruisers to provide huge burst damage. The match was neck and neck- after 6 minutes there was only a five point difference separating the two teams. With the destruction of the Barghest belonging to Bluemelon of Pandemic Legion, Tuskers pulled ahead allowing them to win Alliance Tournament XIV.
