On the weekend of September 4-5, Alliance Tournament XVII kicked off in earnest, with fifty-one teams fighting it out in a single-elimination format for only sixteen main bracket places. The two packed days began at 1400 EVE, with matches taking place every twenty minutes. There were some absolutely fantastic matches, and some incredible upsets too.
The full match bracket was livestreamed to CCP’s Twitch Channel, in collaboration with the EVE_NT crew. If you want to catch up on the streams, you can find the Day 1 VOD here, and Day 2 VOD here. The entire weekend was a turnout for the books, with the viewer count for the CCP livestreams hitting nearly 5,000 viewers at peak! At the time of writing, the Day One VOD now has more than 32,000 total views, with Day Two exceeding 34,000 total views, in an almost unbelievable showing for the Alliance Tournament Feeder Rounds.
The Results!
Let’s cut straight to the chase; you’re here to find out who made it through the bracket and into the main event. Every available slot was filled from second-day matches, and in the order the qualifying matches were played, here are the teams moving forward to November:
Psychotic Tendencies [TISHU] and The Minions. [TSCNR]
L A Z E R H A W K S [LZHX] and HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE NINJA AssAssIn SQUAD eSports [JUTSU]
Platinum Sensitivity. [HISNS] and Exodus. [LOLGF]
Bright Side Of Death [BSOD] and Tactical Narcotics Team [TNT]
Odin’s Call [ODIN] and Arrival. [ARRVL]
Fraternity. [FRT] and Literally Triggered [LTRIG]
Northern Coalition. [NC] and Entropic Thunder [FKSTK]
Hard Knocks Citizens [HKRAB] and Snuffed Out [B B C]
These pairings will all be set to play in some of the first matches on November 6, the first day of the main event taking place across November 6, 7, 13 and 14. Those weekends see the format of the event switch from the single-elimination used in the Feeder Rounds, to the more traditional double-elimination format used in the majority of past Alliance Tournaments. You can find the full event bracket on CCP’s AT XVII Challonge page.
The Highlights
A results roundup wouldn’t be complete without talking about some of the best moments of the weekend. If you’re looking to cherry pick the interesting fights, here are some of my favourites, with links to VOD timestamps too. If you think I missed out on a great match that people should check out, let us know in the comments!
#1 – The Initiative. versus Psychotic Tendencies (Match 1, Day One)
This was the first match of the first day, and a major upset to boot; possibly the most surprising match of the weekend. A commanding performance from TISHU’s shield rush setup knocked out the more tournament-experienced Initiative, tearing through INIT’s triple Fleet Tempest setup with a clean sweep. TISHU takes the field, 100-0.
#2 – Brave Collective versus Bright Side of Death (Match 8, Day One)
This was an interesting Heavy Assault Missile brawl between Brave’s shield Nighthawk/Onyx core and BSOD’s armour Damnation/Sacrilege core. First and second blood went to Brave, but BSOD clawed it back slowly in a great showing, using that sheer Damnation EHP and brute-forcing through from there. BSOD sweeps the table to knock Brave out of the running, 100-16.
#3 – TEST Alliance Please Ignore versus The Minions. (Match 21, Day Two)
An incredible fight between ‘top-heavy’ setups, TEST brought a triple RHML Barghest ‘Kingkiller’ comp against a very interesting double Cruise Golem + Scorpion Navy Issue setup from Minions. TEST scored first blood, killing a series of raptors, before the Golem setup really began chunking through the first Barghest. By 240 seconds into the match, it could have gone either way; TEST retained their logi, but all three Minion battleships remained. A rapid Golem/Barghest trade didn’t change the balance of the match, and with 4 minutes remaining, TEST were ahead by only 3 points.
In a riveting back-and-forth, this fight went to full time — Minions. win on points, 66-49.
#4 – Exodus. versus CAStabouts (Match 25, Day Two)
This was honestly my favourite match of the weekend. We saw CAStabouts bring a top-heavy double Leshak + Vindicator with varied support, up against what appeared at first glance to be a standard ‘Minmatar Rush’ setup from Exodus. Very quickly this was disproved, as Exodus. withdrew and executed on a “Boom, Headshot” Flykiller with artillery Sleipnirs, kiting away and deleting ships left, right, and centre.
This entire match was a masterclass in piloting and execution from the Exodus. team, with some fantastic calls and a Flykiller setup that was a massive surprise to everyone watching. Exodus. win on points, 75-4.
The Honour Brawl!
This deserves a mention too, and for good reason. Match 18, the last match taking place on Day One, saw Hard Knocks Citizens take on Wolves Among Strangers. HK brought a Sleipnir/Loki core against Wolves’ double Vindicator/Scorpion top end. Hard Knocks then saw a lucky break when ReadYY, who was flying in a Vindicator (and also reported to be Wolves’ Captain) saw a massive internet disconnection just prior to match start.
While ReadYY did eventually reconnect to their ship with roughly six and a half minutes remaining in the match, by that point HK already had a 37-point lead, and HK went on to win 75 points to 8. This was unfortunate because that Vindicator was a key ship in the execution of Wolves’ strategy, and according to the rules “the match simulation is taken as-is”. As a result, Wolves were knocked out of AT 17 by Hard Knocks.
However, Hard Knocks stepped up to be some great sports, offering to do a ‘show rematch’ with Wolves after the final day had officially concluded. Commentated (in their first stream appearance of the weekend) by CCPs Aurora and Swift, this match was run as a clean rematch where both teams brought the same ships with the same arena warp-ins.
The rematch was an interesting beast. Wolves scored first blood, killing a pair of Svipuls, but losing a Jaguar in trade. The first ‘core’ kill was also scored by Wolves, killing a Sleipnir at the three-minute mark, and another a minute and a half later. HK then lost their Scimitar before finally getting back on the board, killing a Scorpion at roughly the halfway mark. That Scorpion was too little, too late for the HK team though, as Wolves stormed ahead to a convincing 100-27 win. In their own words, they were Vindicated.
Final Acknowledgements
I have to wrap this up by reiterating just how awesome it was to see this first part of the Alliance Tournament XVII proceedings go so astoundingly well, after more than two years of CCP’s tournament hiatus. This came together so smoothly and was such an engaging set of livestreams. It was a really enjoyable weekend to watch, and these events are impossible to produce without a ton of background support. So as an AT Captain, Anger Games administrator (and just all-round tournament enthusiast!) I want to take a moment to thank everyone involved in keeping the scene alive these past years and everyone helping to build it back up too.
Firstly, the CCP team. The Alliance Tournament—and other tournament rebuilds as well—likely would not have occurred without the tireless efforts of CCP Aurora. I also know there are many others at CCP who love this slice of competitive EVE Online and have supported her in making this happen. Thank you all.
Secondly, to the EVE_NT crew, who kicked the rest of us properly into gear with the Alliance Open last November, and have also been unbelievably supportive of other tournament events. These guys put on such a great show, and have always been there with help and advice for anyone who has needed it, even if it creates more work for them. I cannot praise this team enough.
Thirdly, to all the players involved in this event, and the additional support crew. These tournaments cannot happen without organisers and participating teams, and many players put in tens or even hundreds of hours preparing for their matches. We also have a broad team of stream contributors who support tournament livestreams by offering match commentary and ‘Analyst Desk’ discussion of the event, and the show would not go on without them either. An extra- special shoutout goes to the foreign language streamers who rehosted this weekend’s matches with commentary, bringing the event to the broader EVE community.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who tunes in to enjoy these events, watch the explosions, and listen to the streamers expound about the mechanics of EVE Online. Without the fans and the viewers, these tournaments would not be continue to be produced; at the end of the day, you make everything else possible. Thank you all, and I look forward to seeing everyone again in November.
