ROG Weekly Wrap Up! (Grand Final)

The night we’d all been waiting for, the ANZPL Grand Final live at Fortress Melbourne finally came and what a night it was! As usual, we’re here to break down all the action for you with a highlight from each match up as well as a recount of everything that went down to catch you up to speed if you’ve missed out!

Match 1: Jay-Stars v Von-Stars 3:4

To warm us all up for the main event, we had JayRated and Vondle putting together all star teams from our ANZPL players that didn’t make it to the Grand Final to battle it out one last time.

The Von-Stars got off to a good start on their attack on Himmelsdorf, getting some nice early bleed as well a tank advantage. As the teams collapsed on each other the Jay-Stars began evening out the HP, even briefly taking the advantage after a huge ammo rack onto Slayer from Saxon. However, it wasn’t meant to be for the Jay-Stars as CJ was able to take out both Saxon and Party leaving only Lightning_Man on one shot of HP. The Jay-Stars stuck back in their attack, getting an early kill on CJ and keeping the rest of the Von-Stars busy trying to kill JayRated while JT, Lightning_Man and Party raced for the two flag. By the time JayRated was down there were mere seconds left on the cap timer and the map ended 1:1.

On Ghost Town the Jay-Stars looked to be doing alright as they moved to attack the two flag. Despite JayRated getting ignited they still managed to get the tank advantage, but their tanks were low on HP and they had lost the Bat-Chat battle for control of the outer map. The Von-Stars took their time on their attack with Vondle eventually pushing onto the cap alone while CJ moved around behind. Vondle went down and was traded for JayRated while at the same time Bailes lost the Bat-Chat fight on the outskirts of town, leaving the Jay-Stars with the tank advantage. Regardless, the Von-Stars brought things back to a two on one but couldn’t find JT’s Bat-chat before time ran out, leaving us on another 1:1.

The teams had a messy first game on Cliff, as they battled around mid and the donut until the Von-Stars managed to get a two for one trade. Things went downhill from there for the Jay-Stars as the rest of them were picked off leaving just JT in a Bat-Chat who managed to survive for longer than he should have. The next battle saw the Jay-Stars attacking and doing a great job of trading kills with the Von-Stars until it was down to just CJ against three. What happened next had everyone screaming. As CJ ran around the back of the hill he quickly hid in a brilliant misdirection, coming out behind the Jay-Stars who had driven straight past him. He emerged, firing a single shot into the back of Party, dropping him before unloading the rest of his clip into JayRated, setting Jay alight for the third time that evening. Meanwhile, JT was desperately trying to get shots from the top of the hill but lost his footing as he did and started to fall off. CJ wasn't about the let gravity steal a kill from him though and he waited for his clip to reload and fired off a single shell, hitting JT mid fall, winning the game for the Von-Stars.

The final battle took us to Ruinberg where the Von-Stars struggled against the Jay-Stars who weren’t giving them an inch. After bleeding out heavily the Von-Stars started to be picked off one by one until only Slayer was left and the Jay-Stars picked up their last win of the night with all their tanks still alive at the battle's end to finish 3:4.

Match 2: Bulldogs v Sentinels 3:4

And now for the main event, the Brisbane Bulldogs facing off against defending champions, the Sentinels live at Fortress Melbourne!

Starting off on Prokhorovka the Bulldogs were slow and steady on their attack as they maneuvered for map control. They maybe have been just a bit too slow getting there though as the Sentinels capitalised on an overmatch in mid, getting a three for two trade and finding themself their first win. The Bulldogs didn’t let that shake them as they moved onto the defence. They got good bleed on the Sentinels as they pushed for map control and brought Iroguards IS-7 down to one shot of HP before eliminating him completely and getting the reset, leaving the Bulldogs with the tank and HP advantage. With HP in their favour and time on their side the Bulldogs were able to pick up a convincing win. 

Moving over to Mines the teams both wasted no time heading for the hill, but the Bulldogs were first in with their lighter, faster tanks. As the Sentinels made their way up they were driving into a crossfire but had the HP to play with having a heavier lineup. As the brawl progressed the Sentinels masterfully juggled their HP and focus fire to eliminate all of the Bulldogs without losing a tank despite what looked like a rough start. In the next battle the Sentinels again went for the hill push but this time the Bulldogs were ready, sending Dark and MadHouse wrapping around the hill in Bat-Chats to catch the Sentinels in a crossfire and absolutely punish them. In the end it was just Wym0 in a three on one and there was nothing he could do.

Next up the teams went over to Murovanka where the Bulldogs started on attack. Catching the Sentinels off guard by dumping completely over the hill at the one flag the Bulldogs were able to isolate Ironguard while MadHouse and joeattora sniffed out Wym0 in their Bat-Chats, putting themselves in a fantastic position. However, they then overcommitted to chasing down the remaining Sentinels losing MadHouse and joeattora and leaving themselves with only heavies to face off against Rowendy and Rainbow who ran rings around them to come back with a absolutely massive clutch win. It was now the Sentinels turn to attack, putting Sydny in a Bat-Chat on the one flag in an unusual move. The Bulldogs then took the game into their own hands, pushing over the ridge and eliminated Syndy and Rowendy giving them a two tank advantage on defence, an unwinnable position for the Sentinels to come back from.

Now it all came down to the final tie breaker match on Sand River to decide the ANZPL Champions for season two. The Sentinels took their time setting up to make their push on the two flag and when it came the Bulldogs weren’t set up to get the bleed they needed. Leading the charge, Ironguard pushed over followed by Syndy and Wym0 they took out Dark while Rainbow picked up a kill on Ravvi, putting them up two tanks. From there the Sentinels went straight to put pressure on the two flag to force the Bulldogs hand. Despite a valiant attempt at a reset from Soldat_Udachi he wasn’t able to make it and the Sentinels ran out the time on the cap securing themselves as back to back ANZPL champions!

Grand Final Live at Fortress Melbourne

Congratulations to the Sentinels, our undefeated ANZPL Champions and a huge thanks to our hosts for the Grand Final, Fortress Melbourne and all those who came along to watch the event live and to those who tuned in on twitch. It’s been a fantastic season and we cannot wait for season three to begin!