Everyone loves an underdog story and last week's playoffs were just that. It was an evening full of surprises so let's break down all the action from the games with a clip from each matchup to bring you up to speed!
HotShot Competition
There will be no new ANZPL Hot Shot clips this week as we will now be voting on which of each week's winning Hot Shot moments was the best of Season Three. Follow the link to view all seven of the winning clips and vote for your favourite for your chance to win a year's supply of Ironside Coffee!
Match 1: Skorpions v Matildas 2:4
Starting us off on Sand River the Matildas had a good attacking run, despite the Skorpions looking to be in a good spot as they easily got reset after reset onto the Matildas cap pressure. However, the Matildas were quick to change tack, pulling off the cap and engaging the Skorpions in a brawl in the river bed that saw things come down to a one v one between Whippet’s Kranvagn and Russian’s UDES 15/16. Whippet was on full HP though and Russian being down to half meant the duel went the way of the Matildas. The Skorpions struggled on their turn to attack, bleeding out heavily as they attempted to manoeuvre into favourable positions and make a decisive push. The Matildas beat them to the punch though, taking the opportunity to strike first, find the overmatches and defeat the Skorpions attack.
As we moved onto Mines the Skorpions struck back hard, getting into a brawl with the Matildas for hill control straight off the bat. The Skorpions were able to find a three on two over match on the hill giving them the advantage which they utilised to great effect, finishing off the entire Matildas roster in just over one minute. The next game took on a slower pace as the Matildas bided their time on attack. The Skorpions had other ideas though and formed up for a push to retake hill control from the Matildas. This proved to be a mistake as Bailes suddenly appeared from behind in his CS-63. However, the Matildas seemed to hesitate and after some quick thinking and great focus fire from the Skorpions they were able to turn the tables on the Matildas and just like that the score was two a piece.
Next up was Ghost Town with the Matildas on attack. Things seemed to be at a bit of a stalemate as the teams jostled around the two flag but the decisive play came as Bailes made a massive flank, clipping out his Bat-Chat into JT and Napalmer. With JT now knocked out and Napalmer left on one shot of HP things quickly fell apart. The coup de grâce for the Skorpions came as the Matildas were able to find an overmatch as they countered a push onto the one flag, grouping up and going all in to pushing the advantage. The Skorpions fought hard to the bitter end but it wasn’t enough and the Matildas were through to the Grand Final.
Match 2: Sentinels v Panthers 2:4
The Perth Panthers now had the unenviable task of going up against two time ANZPL champions the North Sydney Sentinels. But the Panthers made things look easy as they picked apart the Sentinels defence on Prokhorovka. As the teams brawled on the train tracks the Panthers found an overmatch and were able to grind the Sentinels down to just SoyMilk before adding insult to injury and going for the cap win. Game two was much closer but the Panthers again played brilliantly, getting some good early hits on Rainbow’s T-100 LT that gave them control of the 1-2 lines, setting them up nicely for their defence. The bleed then moved onto SoyMilk and the Sentinels were forced to make a move but they weren’t able to equalise things as the Panthers managed to maintain the upper hand and go up 2:0.
The teams then went on to Ghost Town where the Sentinels attacked first, putting pressure onto the two flag. The Panthers were able to get resets and trade effectively, bringing Wym0 down to a third of his HP before the Sentinels made a push. But the Panthers were set up perfectly to counter with Twit on the flank in his Obj. 277. He quickly deleted Rainbow before goober showed up in the Bat-Chat to provide support and it was all over for the Sentinels. After three defeats in a row the Sentinels were able to put a point on the board on defence. Rainbow in an IS-7 was able to ambush goober’s Bat-Chat early on, forcing him into an awkward position and knocking him out before he could escape. From there the Sentinels forced a four v five brawl and the Panthers suffered their first defeat of the night.
The final map of the night was Sand River and it looked like a classic Sentinels reverse sweep was on the cards as they dominated on defence. The Panthers boldly sent it straight onto the two flag but hit a brick wall as the Sentinels were set up to punish it. The next game caught everyone by surprise as the Panthers sent Dastardly, Twit and JS to push straight down the river bed to mid, catching Syndy and SoyMilk off guard. Syndy was knocked out and SoYMilk was left on one shot of HP before the rest of the Sentinels arrived but by then it was too late and the Panthers were storming towards a Grand Final placing. With that the Panthers transformation from the cute kittens of the early season to the apex predators we have today was complete!
Grand Final Lineup
Here are the matches for this Friday the 4th, starting at 7:00 PM UTC+10 over at our World of Tanks ANZ Twitch Channel! Hosted by Ben “Sandman” Kevin “KaRath” Zhu and Jordan “Elfish” Mays.
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Grand Final Watch Party
We are excited to announce the ANZPL S3 Finals Watch Party, Live at Fortress Melbourne! On Saturday November 13th, from 6pm AEDT, Fortress Melbourne are offering a watch party! Since unfortunately we cannot have a LAN this season, this is the next best thing!
🎫 Free entry
🎁 Giveaways
🍹 Exclusive team themed drinks
🎮 WoT Free Play on PCs
🍻 Bar Tab for the Community*
*Must have registered to get access to bar tab, and if ordering alcohol ID's will be checked
ANZPL Fantasy League
For our avid ANZFL fans, here is what the best performing team of five for the playoffs was. The playoffs will have the same prizes as the group stage and the same system as normal, just pick your picks for playoffs out of the teams playing!
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