GWFC 1st Season Playoffs
War Machine Churns Out Another Spot In The Top 2

#3 War Machine [WM] defeats #7 I Guild I [iGi] - April 16, 2006 - Report #1
by Harold J. Chow

I Guild I continued to show a knack for controlling the flag stand in this round. However, War Machine used a long-game strategy and home field advantage to emerge victorious.

Game 1
Game 1 took place at War Machine's Frozen Isle Guild Hall. WM utilizes a lot of split-team strategies, so their hall choice should come as no surprise. WM's team build featured a lot of Energy denial anchored by consistent Warrior damage. iGi employed a more diverse offense that included Energy denial, Elemental damage, and Warrior attacks.

GAME 1 LINEUP:

Blinding Flash

Blinding Flash
Elementalist - Air Magic - Spell
Energy: 15
Activation: 0.75
Recharge: 4
Spell. Target foe is Blinded for 3..10 seconds.

Although iGi's ability to control the flag stand would eventually earn them a strong morale position, they allowed WM to dictate the flow of the game. WM kept the battle over at the flag stand for the first twenty minutes of the game while they periodically sent a Warrior to eliminate some of iGi's archers. Although iGi sent its Air/Water E/Mo to counter the warriors with Blinding Flash and water snares, WM had already earned an NPC advantage for a Victory or Death scenario. WM began splitting into four-player groups after the 20-minute mark to force iGi to defend both the flag stand and iGi's own base. This split strategy kept iGi from attacking the Korean guild's base and allowed WM to stall for Victory or Death.

It certainly helps when your opponent makes a critical error. Despite having their archers and bodyguards in control of the flag stand area, WM found themselves cornered in their own base after Victory or Death. However, WM managed to sneak a flag over to the flag stand, capturing the stand at 32:33. Instead of continuing its assault on WM's base, where only a weakened WM team stood between iGi and WM's Guild Lord, iGi returned to the flag stand. Aided by the NPCs and a timely morale boost at 34:33, WM dispatched iGi and their Guild Lord at 35:48.

Game 2
Both guilds modified their team builds for Game 2, played at iGi's Druid's Isle Guild Hall. To counter WM's anti-Warrior Hexes, iGi's W/N switched to a W/Me to bring Hex Breaker. WM swapped a Me/E for a Me/N with additional Warrior control in the form of Price of Failure.

GAME 2 LINEUP:

WM's split strategy turned against them in Game 2. Whenever WM split on this map, iGi would feign a split and collapse on whichever WM group went towards iGi's base. To pick off targets, iGi would snare with a Water Hex, then focus damage to finish the target off. This strategy allowed iGi to gain a sizeable morale advantage. The deaths weakened WM to the point where they had difficulty staying alive even when regrouped. iGi wore WM down enough to earn a morale boost at 23:28.

Resurrect

Resurrect
Monk - No Attribute - Spell
Energy: 10
Activation: 5
Recharge: 8
Spell. Resurrect target party member. Target party member is returned to life with 25% Health and zero Energy.

Unable to split effectively, WM could only delay iGi by sneaking flags over to the flag stand while the rest of the team ran laps around Druid's Isle trying to set up an assault on iGi's NPCs. WM's Me/Mo had Resurrect to bring fallen comrades back to life to keep the marathon going but, by Victory or Death, one of WM's monks had already accumulated 60% death penalty. With iGi firmly in control, the WM conceded at 35:45.

Game 3
For Game 3, both guilds again modified their team builds. iGi's W/Me switched to a W/E with Shock. WM swapped their Me/N for a Me/E with lightning spells and water Hexes while their Hammer Warrior switched to a W/E to bring Shock as well. WM's monks had Hex Breaker to take away the effectiveness of iGi's Water Magic snares.

GAME 3 LINEUP:

WM went right back to the strategy employed late in Game 1, splitting into two groups of four to begin Game 3. Half the team headed towards the gate controls while the other half charged over to the flag stand. The gate team whittled away at iGi's archers, taking down two of them while the iGi healer and Air/Water E/Mo stood by the Guild Lord and watched. However, iGi had the numbers advantage to force WM's flag team to concede the flag stand.

"Charge!"

"Charge!" [Elite]
Warrior - Tactics - Shout
Energy: 5
Activation: 0
Duration: 5..11
Recharge: 20
Shout. For 5..11 seconds, all allies within earshot move 25% faster.

Despite allowing two morale boosts, WM managed to turn the tide of battle by using the gate levers to isolate part of iGi's team in an eight-on-five situation. WM further cut into iGi's morale advantage when they sent their Me/E to ambush the W/E and Air/Water E/Mo who had gone to pursue WM's "Charge!" warrior at the flag stand. With iGi suddenly playing defense, WM evened up the morale situation with a boost at 7:11.

WM's split strategy again discouraged iGi from attacking WM's base. To keep from getting overwhelmed at either battlefront, WM rotated the composition of their splits, sometimes sending only two or three players to harass iGi's NPCs.

At Victory or Death, WM pressed their NPC advantage. iGi managed to turn back an assault on their Guild Lord and killed off WM's Hammer Warrior. After dealing with this threat, however, iGi's Air/Water E/Mo and the N/W returned to the flag stand instead of going after WM's undefended Guild Lord. Despite eliminating WM's bodyguards, iGi could not prevent a WM morale boost at 34:17. Unable to protect both themselves and their Guild Lord from WM and their NPC army, iGi squandered its early morale advantage and fell to WM at 38:45.

Harold J. Chow is one of our freelance Guild Wars reporters. His in-game name is Guild Informant.