SPORT: ARUCIAN ANGELS KEEP UP THE HEAT AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSWith only one loss, the Angels remain at the top of the leaderboard.CHARLES MORAN (@CHARLESMORAN)
24 OCTOBER 2021 20:01 | BAGABIADA, DEZEVAU
Bot laner Camille Leroy (mutiler244) during the match against the Frigatebirds.
Photo courtesy of Glace. BAGABIADA, DEZEVAU-
Coming off of a three-game winning streak in the first week of the championship, the Arucian Angels won two more victories before losing the last game of the second week at the 2021 Avatar World Championships in Dezevau, and remain at the top of the leaderboards going into the third week of the tournament.
In the first week of the tournament, the Angels won all three of their games against their opponents from Asteria Superior and Bahia, leaving them undefeated by the beginning of the second week. The team had shown great promise, especially under the leadership of the team's top laner and leader, tourdeforce, whose real name is Raymond Delacroix. In between the two weeks, the players prepared themselves for the next weeks events, but also participated in the other events and opportunities which tournament had to offer, which are detailed
here.
The most anticipated and high caliber match of the entire second week, not just of the Angel's schedule, was the match between the Angels and the Dezevauan Frigatebirds, both of whom were undefeated and had both reached the final five in the previous year. The match was the first one scheduled for the beginning of the week's matches, and ended up having some of the highest international viewership of any match in the tournament so far. Some analysts speculated that the outcome of this match would have great effect on the morale of both teams, as it might mark the turning point for the losing team.
The early game was greatly in favour of the Frigatebirds, which was uncharacteristic as the Frigatebirds usually excel towards the endgame. Mid laner oignon's use of Edgworth, the Avatar usually regarded as the weakest out of any, proved especially critical in the early success, a fact which drew no small criticism for the Angel's early performance. However, despite the advantage which the Frigatebirds had, the Angels came back to rebound towards the later part of the game, and ultimately came out ahead towards the end after tourdeforce made a strong push in the top lane, ultimately securing victory in just under twenty three minutes. With this victory, the Angels had set back one of their two primary competitors, and had seemingly won their toughest challenge for the week. This ended up being a huge boost in morale for both the team and the fans.
The next match was against New Begia Dockers, who had not won a single game. Unlike the previous game, the Angels were greatly favoured to win, and so perhaps came into the match a bit too relaxed. Surpisingly, the Dockers came out swinging, and pulled ahead in the early game, especially notable because top laner Deponent upset tourdeforce early on the top lane, a move which shocked the team and threw it off its balance. The Dockers put up one of their best performances the entire tournament, almost getting within attack distance of the team's citadel. However, the Angels once again pulled through in the late game, beating back the Dockers and once again managing to take victory. Despite the win, the near defeat of the undefeated team by the worst performing team was quite unnerving to some of the Angels players, and a marked change in attitude after the success of the previous victory.
The final game of the week was against the 2-3 CECA Equip team from Champania. This match saw Roger Descamps dominate the mid-lane in the early and mid game, constantly putting MeatMachine on the ropes and disabling the mid lane ravelins too early for the Angels to recover in the other lanes. Unlike the other two matches of the week, the Angels were unable to make a comeback, as t0by and RadicalLouis were too focused on protecting the lanes to gather enough powder to last when the game reached its later stages. Thus the Champanians managed to upset the angels in the last round of the first week, ending the Angel's losing streak of five games and giving them their first loss of the tournament.
After the game, the players were a bit downcast, but nevertheless happy with their overall performance. "You can't win them all," said bot laner Camille Leroy, known as mutiler244. "We got thrown off our groove, and we paid for it. CECA played well, and we couldn't come back before the end."
"Well, as much as it's easy to focus on the negatives, I think we should instead focus on what we've done well," opined team leader Raymond Delacroix (tourdeforce). "We still won two out of our three games, especially against such difficult opponents. We are still in a good position, and we'll continue to bounce back from this and give it all we've got next week!"
With 5 wins and 1 loss, the Angels stand tied with the West Euclean S5 Gaming at the top of the leaderboard. S5 Gaming was also undefeated until the sixth round, when they lost to Mtel Lion City, who the Angels have already beaten during the first week of the tournament. The only other team above .500 is the 4-2 Amathian SilverknightS, whom the Arucian Angels are scheduled to play the first game of the third week. However, six teams rest at the 3-3 mark, including the Frigatebirds, who lost both of their other games this week after their defeat by the Angels.
With the possibility of most teams now being able to win at most 7 games, the Angels need to win only 2 out of their next five games to likely secure a place in the final five. The Angels, however, hope to secure first place. Coach Bart Derasmo said "I'm very proud of my team's performance today. We've put ourselves in a very good position, and I'm confident we can push ourselves to the top spot and then to victory." In the previous World Championship, the Angels had reached fifth place in the Round Robin stage but managed to win all of the games in the elimination round, reaching second place. The victor of the Round Robin gets a valuable bye in the first elimination stage.
With the team's performance proving exceptional going into the second week, more and more fans from across Sainte-Chloé and Imagua have been tuning in to watch the world championship and cheer on the players from both countries. Their performance has been getting Avatar, and esporting in general, more national notoriety. One prominent shout out from home was the Team's Sponsor, the Bank of the Orient, which chirped "Congratulations to the #Arucian Angels on winning 5 out of 6 games in the 8th #AvatarWorldChampionships!"
Charles Moran is La Croix's primary correspondent in esports and liaison with the Arucian Angels since 2019. Comments [ 5,188 ] |
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