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[eh~AAssie]

It took me some time to get around to write this one. But finally; here it is!

The final: eh vs KO (played April 3rd)

The teams finishing 4th and 5th in the regular season met in the final. Between the two teams, KO probably had the hardest way to the final. They had to play a golden map in the quarter final when they met Ppø. In the semi final YS gave them a good fight, with the score 7-4, 7-5. eh had an easier way. In the quarter final they beat SFO who lost a couple of key players just before the match. In the semi final TEP resisted well on their map, but eh had control.

eh played the whole final with Gandos, Nanteq and me. For KO Bowser, PANsen and Dephill played bay, Bowser, PANsen and Cloud played Island and on the coast map they had No_ODLES, Cloud and t!m. Nanteq and PANsen were a bit out of touch with the game in this match. Both complained about not finding the right feeling after too much time on TMN.

We started the match on eh’s map, the bay map “City of Trackers” by Kyo. It turned out to give us some really intense rounds. The first place was a fight between me and Bowser. Bowser was really fast, so I quickly realized I had to push. As long as I didn’t slide, I felt I was a little faster, but only about 0.2 seconds. Except for one or two rounds where both of us crashed, I think all rounds were won in 50’50 – 51’00. PANsen and Gandos often battled for the 3rd place. The close rounds affected the score, and the teams followed each other to 4-4. Some of the rounds were decided quite early, when PANsen or I crashed. I think I crashed a bit more often than him, but on the other hand I think I won most of the rounds where I didn’t crash. The two next rounds decided the map. Both times the score was tied after the 4th player crossed the line (eh-KO-KO-eh/KO-eh-eh-KO), so it was up to Nanteq and Dephill to decide which team got the point. Nanteq came first out of the last tunnel, with about a second in advantage on Dephill. All he had to do was to drive safely the rest of the way, but somehow he manages to hit the CP in the last turn so Dephill could catch up. In the next round exactly the same happens. Nanteq has the 5th spot in sight, but manages to crash in the last CP. Thus KO took a 6-4 lead. Next I crashed early on and KO could just secure the last point to win the map 7-4.

KO’s Island map was “Black Emerald” by Neocreed, which was one of the more technical ones. Here the same pattern appeared as on the first map, with Bowser and me fighting for the top position. But this time Gandos and Cloud also had some rounds where they wanted a part of the action. Nanteq and PANsen were less reliable. They had some good rounds, but they crashed a lot too. It started rather well for eh, who took a 4-1 lead thanks to good driving by me and Gandos during the first rounds, before Nanteq had a couple of good ones. Then eh started making more mistakes, while KO started driving more as a team. The next minutes were nerve-racking, as KO came closer and closer to tie the match at 6-6. Now KO had the opportunity to seal the victory of the final. This could have affected their driving. Personally I had lost control over the score at this point; I just knew that KO had won a lot lately. eh had a good performance in this last round, with three players in the top four. So eh took the map 7-6 to tie the match 1-1.

The whole cup was therefore to be decided on coast, on “Trinity Blood” by Doubledore. I think all eh players liked this map. As for the KO they did for some reason seem a bit unprepared. It started well for eh in the first round. After one lap I had the lead in front of Gandos, t!m and Nanteq. Then, halfway on the second lap I got too eager and crashed in one of the most costly places to crash on this track, in a zig-zag on a climb. This allowed the whole field to pass me. Nanteq also made a mistake later, so even though Gandos won the round, he had three KO players just behind him. After looking at the times of the first round I realized that the quality was rather low on this map, so I decided to drive carefully. This worked like a charm. The rest of the rounds was a fight with Gandos, t!m and me. Gandos and I were consistent, so t!m seemed a bit pressured to win and took some risks. This was no surprise; since he had to win to give KO a chance of grabbing points. My focus on minimal risk paid off, and I won three rounds and finished 2nd in the other two. Gandos and t!m took the other two rounds. eh won the map 5-1, won the match 2-1 and became the SL1 cup champions.

This was a match with high quality racing on the first two maps. I can’t remember playing many matches with so many players able to make world class times at the same time. So a huge GG to all the good players! When it comes to performance, the coast map wasn’t as well driven as the first two maps. The reason could very well be that both teams focused on the two regular maps so they could win without having to drive the golden map. This was certainly the case for me.

I wish to congratulate all the players and organizers for a great season and a fun cup!

AAssie