ANZPL Summary
With two weeks to go in the regular season, this week was do or die for all teams with limited time left to rise up on the leaderboards!
Christchurch Conquerors vs Adelaide Action X
After some technical difficulties, we started off on the ruined streets of Ghost Town. The Conquerors opted for a very spread-out defence, using two 60TPs as an anchor between the flags. Action X took map control with a BatChat 25t securing the south and an IS-7 gathering information in the north. KritaKil got a great blind shot onto the BatChat as Action X rotated their IS-7 to apply cap pressure to the 2 flag. Conquerors reacted with a great three-way counter-attack, leaving Action X scrambling to get their BatChat into the fight. Some bounced shots and positional errors saw the fight swing back into the favour of Action X and Dongerlord’s clip punished his opponents hard leading his team to the first victory.
The Conquerors opted for two 60TPs on attack as well, taking control of the south of the map and setting up for a 2 flag assault. Action X realized that there was no opposition in the north and took an aggressive position at A8 with their IS-7. This proved problematic when the Conquerors put three tanks on the capture circle as Action X was forced to drive a long distance to get resets. Despite a 3v5 brawl for the Conquerors, Merry’s AMX 50B got great damage and the HP equalised. The endgame resulted in two autoloaders trying to out-rotate a healthier opponent, leading to Whippet trying to clutch a 1v2. An intense game of cat-and-mouse saw Action X sneak away with the victory as Whippet did not have the gun depression to dig out his opponents in the lower ground.
With victory in their sights, the Action X charged over the hill on Himmelsdorf and set up crossfire around the 2 flag. Unfortunately, two of their tanks got spotted out early giving the Conquerors the signal to start rotating back to defend. The Conquerors were able to get great bleed out before charging down the 5 line to get resets. Dongerlord was ready and managed to clip out a 60TP on the push but the Conquerors were quick to eliminate Zanin and CJ swinging the tank advantage back in their favour. Ultimately it was Bluey to the rescue with some decisive clips shutting down Action X and finally getting a win on the board for the Conquerors.
Swapping sides, the Conquerors had a different plan in mind for their attack - using two 60TPs and two IS-4s on the K line, and an AMX 50B on the hill ready to rotate into the fight. The Conquerors identified that Action X had a very static defence and opted to leave two 60TPs and an IS-4 to aim down the 5 line while Whippet started the cap in the hope that a salvo on anyone coming to reset would heavily swing the HP in their favour. Saxon somehow stealthily managed to sneak past without getting spotted, triggering an emergency push by the Conquerors in a panicked attempt to reseize control. Getting a pick onto Ironguard, the Conquerors scrambled to push in with the little remaining time. A fantastic flank by Whippet suddenly saw several Action X tanks focused down, with Zanin caught out of the main fight. With Action X only needing to survive another 25s, Zanin forgot to run away and instead opted to 1v5, allowing the Conquerors to get the victory with seconds to spare.
Tundra was this week’s tiebreaker and with history favouring the attackers this map was the perfect opportunity for the Conquerors. Heavily committing towards the 1 flag, the Conquerors secured crucial positions and forced Dongerlord to rotate away until his team arrived. A fantastic clip saw Whippet slinking back behind cover, but unfortunately for Action X, couldn’t be eliminated. Dongerlord scurried away once again as the resets onto the base started arriving. Rotating Saxon in to get the kill allowed the Conquerors the opportunity to drive into and destroy Zanin, forcing Ironguard to bleed a lot of HP in order to avoid being focused down on the bridge. The lack of DPM proved to be the demise of Action X as one final push saw the Conquerors secure the reverse sweep.
South Sydney Skorpions vs North Sydney Sentinels
The ‘Sydney Derby’ has been a favourite for a long time, and both teams were ready this week to put on a show for the fans. Mines was up first and both teams clashed in the middle of the map, with an intense brawl favouring the Skorpions in the early seconds of the match. Despite both teams having the same tanks in the fight, DeL was quickly eliminated with Rowendy not far behind him. The Sentinels clawed back with an incredible 1729 HP ammo-rack onto Raspberry but it wasn’t enough as the Skorpions had cleaned up on the hill and were ready to re-push back in to claim their first victory.
With the Sentinels now on Defence, TheReturned made an aggressive flank down the 8 line to pressure out the Skorpions early. JT accepted the challenge and charged towards him to engage in a 1v1 while the rest of the Skorpions set up crossfire on the hill for a repush. The Sentinels trying to maintain the tempo pushed right into the trap and despite obtaining the hill and forcing Auzzi off, Rainbow was left behind to be repushed by the Skorpions. A critical bounce from JT saw the TheReturned win the 1v1 but on the slimmest of margins, however the 4v3 fight for the hill had already begun with the Skorpions leading on HP. The Sentinels managed to keep Rowendy and DeL alive but with nobody on their team with more than 300 HP, the Skorpions had no difficulty cleaning it up for a 2-0 lead.
Moving to Tundra, the words ‘Reverse Sweep’ were on everyone’s minds with the Skorpions not having the greatest history with the map, coupled with the fact that it was also the tiebreaker, should it be reached. Both teams setup with a very generic strategy, with the oddity being the Skorpions opting to use two T110E5s on defence. The Sentinels, after gathering information, made a push through the riverbed before dumping over the hill onto Night and JT. Night shielded JT, going down in the process, but kept a vital Kravagn alive for the Skorpions. This benefit was short-lived as an over-extension by JT saw the Skorpions lose a second tank. Russian miraculously won the 1v1 against a S. Conqueror in A4 but miscommunication saw Auzzi eliminated by triple autoloaders, setting the stage for the Sentinels to clean up and get a win on the board.
The Sentinels opted for a very southern-focused defence, leaving only Rainbow to spot out the north. In a previously unseen move, the Sentinels committed four tanks through the south but discovered Raspberry’s IS-4 was in a difficult position to deal with. The Sentinels bled a lot of HP attempting to close the distance, but managed to get two tanks towards the hill to contest Auzzi. A potential misread saw Rainbow charge around the flank into three of the Skorpions and instantly get deleted by Russian. Meanwhile, Auzzi stalled for as long as possible on the hill, buying the Skorpions enough time to re-push over the bridge and wipe out Rowendy and Syndy. With the Sentinels trapped on the hill, the Skorpions carefully moved their forces in and despite losing Russian on rotation managed to pincer the Sentinels with a double attack. Identifying that the CS-63 could run away, the focus fire swiftly took out TheReturned on the re-push, leaving Night to clean up the 1v1 and break the Skorpions’ curse of being reverse swept by the Sentinels.
Brisbane Bulldogs vs Perth Panthers
With the Bulldogs at the bottom of the leaderboard, this match was their last chance to make the playoffs, as a loss here would make it impossible for them to get the required amount of points.
Starting off on Cliff, the Bulldogs made an interesting choice to use a CS-63 to spot the 2 line crossing but leave a Batchat 25t in B2 to punish an over-extension. The Panthers were quick to take the hill and secure map control, forcing AVP to pull back into cover. Both sides traded HP, but the Panthers seemed to be at a loss on where to attack. With time running out, the Panthers waited for Buck3t to start reloading before pushing hard, eliminating Buck3t and crippling Soldat. The re-push on the 2 line from the Bulldogs however saw the Bulldogs take the HP lead, with the Panthers stuck in cross-fire as well. A final push towards AVP saw the Panthers unable to eliminate him as a fantastic flank from MadHouse sealed the victory and saw the Bulldogs take an early lead.
Swapping sides, the Bulldogs set up an ambush on the 2 line and got heavy punishment onto LightningMan as he crossed into G3. Sensing a repush, the Panthers kept two VZ. 55s in D2 and were rewarded with a full clip of damage each as the Bulldogs charged into the crossfire. Able to eliminate a CS-63 and heavily damage a BatChat 25, the Bulldogs certainly closed the HP difference quickly but began to take damage from the now present Vz 55s. Getting bleed onto the retreating pair, the Bulldogs opted to charge them but a clip from each of them before dying made the HP difference a lot less. It was Ravvi’s cap pressure on the 2 flag that forced out the Panthers and allowed them to secure a second win on Cliff.
Now on a much more comfortable map, the Panthers crossed a Obj 277 into A7 on their Ghost Town attack. JS only bled a small amount crossing into A4 to challenge MadHouse’s BatChat 25t and triple cap pressure saw the Bulldogs have to push into cross-fire to get the resets on the 1 flag. An unlucky fire saw the HP swing in the Bulldogs’ favour but the elimination onto Cows saw the fight in the city stabilise. With neither JS nor MadHouse winning the 1v1 yet, the Panthers continued their assault into the city, taking out Buck3t in an attack from two angles. The Panthers now applied triple cap pressure to the 2 flag, forcing Ravvi to have to bleed HP and ultimately get knocked out for resets as both AVP and MadHouse were out of the fight. MadHouse got some great resets from a cheeky angle but was taken down by some accurate fire as he had very little HP to work with. Despite being in a 1v4, AVP still had the HP advantage, and tried to clutch out the victory. The game-winning play came from Goober who managed to block AVP and prevent him from getting reset shots, allowing the Panthers to get a win on the board.
With the Bulldogs on Attack, the team launched an attack through the south of the map, blind firing common bushes to try and get any advantage possible. Goober had a cheeky position in K1 which managed to get a shot onto MadHouse’s Batchat as he pushed, trapping him in a position where the city could get shots easily. As Goober looked to repush, Cows managed to ignite him, leaving both Bats on very low HP. Goober managed to win the 1v1 but Buck3t’s support managed to keep took him out shortly after. With Buck3t out of the main fight in the city, the Panthers used their numbers advantage to trade positively. Both LightningMan and Buck3t looked for flanking angles respectively for their teams, but the ignite on Ravvi spelled doom for the Bulldogs as a 3000 HP deficit was too much for them to come back from.
Tiebreaker on Tundra was now the critical match. On defence, the Bulldogs opted for an aggressive and active push towards the south, which quickly rotated back when nothing was detected. Panthers played incredibly slow and caught Bulldogs crossing back through the north. A swift rotation down the 8 line saw Ravvi get deleted, leaving the Bulldogs very spread out and unable to cover each other. The Bulldogs tried to group for a push on the 8 line but bled a lot of HP setting it up which inevitably saw MadHouse taken down as well. The Panthers held all the defensive angles and were able to rotate JS and goober into the fight, cleaning up AVP and Cows before hunting down Buck3t. Managing to pull off the incredible reverse sweep, the Panthers crushed the Bulldogs’ dreams of making it into playoffs.
Week Nine Leaderboard
Going into the final week, once again the positioning is tight for the middle of the pack, and multiple scenarios can still evolve. Make sure you don't miss out the action, live on World of Tanks ANZ from 7PM AEST (UTC +10), this Friday!
Upcoming Matches
Absolute do or die match here for the Adelaide Action X if they're to make their way to playoffs - however, the other teams will be actively looking to secure the 1st or 2nd seed position to ensure themselves two shots at the grand final come June 25th.
Fantasy League Team of the Week
Make sure your Fantasy teams are updated! Matteo and Kevin are laughing at your inability to beat Wargaming at this stage, so you've got one week to redeem yourselves.
ANZBL Summary - Week 1 of Playoffs
This week saw the playoffs of ANZBL Season 3, with ANZPL Caster 'Cthulhu’ joining in on the commentary action. The Comets finished the season in first, followed by the Badgers on equal points, the Wolverines two points behind and the Centurions four points behind the leaders.
Wollongong Wolverines vs Canberra Centurions
Kicking off playoffs for their chance to play the loser of the upper bracket, the Wolverines and Centurions were ready to showcase that they were both formidable teams. Starting on the Wolverines’ map pick of Himmelsdorf, the Centurions committed three of their tanks to the G line and two to the K line. Curiously, the Wolverines had opened with an IS-4 and AMX 50B in A0, potentially looking to punish an aggressive hill play. The Centurions drove two IS-4s onto the 1 flag with the two E100s joining them shortly. Leaving a S. Conqueror to cover the 3 line, the Wolverines scrambled to rotate their forces through A3 to A1 to get resets. Identifying that The_Forsaken_Army was a free elimination, the Centurions grouped all five tanks and committed into the courtyard, crushing him, an AMX 50B and an IS-4 swiftly.and starting the domino that led to the Centurions securing the attacking side victory.
The Wolverines opted for a very unusual tank selection on their attack - a UDES 15/16! Setting it up in B0 with the hopes that the HEAT would be effective against angled armour, the Wolverines pushed down the ‘Banana’ road unspotted and began to push towards the 2 flag. Toddy had set up in an interesting position in A6, ready to punish any on the capture circle but settled on joining the rest of his team for a 7 line brawl. With Wolverines having to rotate the UDES into the fight and their 60tp losing the 2v1, a critical pick onto MyNameDidn’tFit saw the HP swing in the Centurions’ favour. The UDES’ flank saw the HP level out but the Centurions were able to focus fire more effectively and an ignite on the UDES spelled doom for the Wolverines as the Centurions walked away with a 2-0 lead.
Map 2 was Sand River, a map not seen much in the ANZPL but certainly active in the ANZBL. The Wolverines opted for a push towards the 2 flag, sending haha_yes through the middle of the map. Despite getting to the position, Haha was quickly wiped out, forcing a push to occur through the north from the Wolverines. The Centurions were entirely prepared for this and managed to shred a 3000 HP lead in seconds as the Wolverines drove through the open. The Centurions swiftly shut down the remainder of the Wolverines without losing a second tank!
With the pressure now on the Wolverines, they opted to bring a full heavy lineup on defence. The Centurions used an Obj. 277 and CS-63 to push two Kravangs into the middle of the map quickly and dumped straight into the Wolverines before they were ready for it. The next overmatch was in the north with three tanks committing to take out Barricade’s Kranvagn. With only two tanks remaining, the Centurions applied cap pressure on the 2 flag, leaving two heavy tanks to suppress any reset attempts. The Wolverines grouped up to try a last-ditch attempt to secure victory but the Centurions immediately collapsed on it, securing a 4-0 victory against formidable opponents.
Cairns Comets vs Bundaberg Badgers
With both teams on the same amount of points, the stage was set for a clear leader to emerge in the playoffs. Starting on their pick of Ghost Town, the Badgers opted for a slow push through the south, with a Batchat 25t securing the flanks on the K line. Meanwhile, the Comets were able to determine that the Badgers were not driving towards the 1 flag and began to rotate towards the 2 flag before the Badgers even got onto it. Power had opportunities to farm in A4 but rotated away, losing half his HP in the process.The Badgers now stuck in D4 seemed lost on how to proceed, eventually opting to push straight onto the cap and try to pick AthrunZulla. Both teams focus-fired well but the HP favoured the Badgers heavily. Bubbles tried to distract his opponents while reloading but was eliminated in the process. The endgame featured a 2v1 with the Badgers having more tanks and more HP left. Darkknight in his VZ 55 managed to escape, forcing the far slower IS-4 and E100 to pursue, resulting in a 1v2 victory as the clock ticked over to 0.
Swapping sides, the Badgers opted for a very static defence in the 4 line. The Comets initially set up to push the 1 flag but opted to rotate away as they gathered more information. Setting up cross-fire the Comets pushed onto the 2 flag and forced the Badgers to blob in to get resets. The Comets had far better focus fire and managed to hold strong, only losing Flaming’s E100 in the chaos. Securing a second win on Ghost Town, the Comets certainly seemed ready to challenge the Badgers for the #1 position.
Moving onto Cliff, the Badgers committed all the forces into the middle of the map on attack, sending a CS-63 up the ramp uncontested. The Comets instead had opted to commit four of their tanks down the 2-3 line and heavily punished the crossing T110E5s and S. Conquerors. The Badgers grouped up to try and re-push 5v4 into the 3 line but the cross-fire from rupro was a thorn in their sides as they bled thousands of HP before even arriving at the main brawl. With the HP firmly in the Comet’s favour, they once again accepted the push and shut down all five tanks in a clinical display of skill and focus fire.
With the Badgers now on defence, it was their last chance to turn the score around or face being knocked into the lower bracket. Both teams committed all their forces into the middle of the map, but Bubbles, despite arriving at the ramp later, committed to the top of the hill, taking a shot of damage for the position. The Comets realised that with a CS on the hill and two S. Conquerors further back the Obj. 277s in the ruins were vulnerable and an aggressive push on the 5 line followed. Unfortunately this wasn’t coordinated well, resulting in AthrunZulla being eliminated crossing through the open and losing Pp_Power as the S. Conquerors arrived to the fight. The hill control turned the tides as rupro and Darkknight were able to dish out shot after shot as the Badgers blobbed into Flaming’s Obj. 277. Darkknight once again found himself against many opponents with less HP. The saving grace came when Bubbles tried to ram Darkknight and gave up the high ground. With the Kranvagn now hull down and reversing up the hill, Darkknight dished out the pain as the Badgers tried to push up. As AuzzieNoob arrived at the summit, Darkknight made the bold move to dive off the hill and eliminate Snozzle’s Obj 277, getting another two shots into AuzzieNoob in the process. Again, Darkknight used his superior mobility to escape and bring it to a 1v1 engagement. A critical misplay to retreat after firing saw Darkknight miss his second shot and AuzzieNoob miraculously salvaged the game for the Badgers.
To keep the momentum going, the Badgers opted for a hyper-aggressive push down the 4 line on their Murovanka attack. The Comets were prepared and managed to bleed a shot of damage onto each tank that crossed. Reset duty fell to AthrunZulla who fell swiftly as the Badgers pushed off the 1 flag but the Comets once again prepared were able to trade one for one, taking out AuzzieNoob’s Kranvagn. Desperately trying to salvage the game, Bubbles pushed down the 1 line trying to take out rupro but bled heavily crossing and ultimately got destroyed in the process. With 4000 HP lead, the Comets now grouped to surround the remaining Badgers and cleaned up a convincing series, taking them straight to the Grand Finals.
If you missed out on any of the action, you can watch the VOD down below!
Upcoming Matches
Next Monday, we'll have the single match between the Bundaberg Badgers and and the Canberra Centurions to see which team can make it into the grand finals to face off against the Cairns Comets!