RTS-Sanctuary News

+Spoiler+  

-Spoiler-  
Game 1
Kimo Joe
Joe aged up very slowly (5:00), attempted a forward shift, but was not quite able to pathblock citizens. The Atlantean fatties survived with no losses. Kimo went forward with hero oracles and killed two of Joe’s hunting villagers. So the early trade actually hurt Joe more than Kimo, and Set really needs an early eco advantage in order to win. Kimo made turma and boomed up, while Joe went with 2 TC Heroic. Joe went with primarily a slinger + chario combo, probably another mistake because Kimo’s turma+destroyer countered Joe's composition easily. In the end, Game 1 was a pretty easy win for Kimo’s Oranos. Kimo played well. GG.

Game 2

Kimo Joe
Both players actually fought a decent amount on water, but come Heroic Age, Kimo shifted entirely to land whereas Joe went hard (probably a bit too hard) on water. Kimo attacked Joe’s main TC early with some scarabs, while Joe gave up complete map control. Joe fell behind 4-2 TCs and got raided heavily on gold. Joe also opted for a fairly quick Mythic Age, forgoing a Heroic army which also contributed to the effectiveness of Kimo’s raids. Joe mounted a come back, somewhat courtesy of Kimo suiciding seven 7 siege towers ( a mere 2100 resources) just to destroy a town center. Joe was able to mine a forward gold uncontested, and also razed Kimo’s forward town center, evening up the town center score line. Joe then went offensive, but he stretched himself too thin, and had a bit of a clumsy army (catapult + elephant). By this time Kimo had Champion Camels, which ran in and massacred 6 catapults (a mere 2400 resources). Joe’s attack quickly faltered, Kimo took control of the gold mines again, and Joe was unable to defend Kimo’s counter attack. GG, nice game.

Game 3

Kimo Joe
Drenched River is a large map with choke-points in the middle. Boom is probably king here. Joe got the best Eggy vs Eggy relic (Caravan Relic). Also, Joe used what I felt was a superior strategy (3 TC using hunt as opposed to 2 TC rain), which resulting in him being slightly ahead. The two players traded a few raids in Heroic Age, with not much harm done to either side. Kimo again suicided siege on a town center. Joe went into early Mythic Age with the advantage, and was on the attack for a long time. However, far away from the fighting, Joe was slow to setup a trade, despite having the trade relic. Then when Joe finally began trading, he had an incredibly suboptimal trade route, for no reason at all. This allowed Kimo to have a much better trade route, despite being on the defense (88 gold vs 24 gold). The trade difference gave Kimo time to defend. Over time, Kimo’s better eco gave him the advantage, and by the time Joe fixed his trade route, he no longer had the edge.

The game rolled on, and on, and on. Kimo started a wonder, and then a titan. Joe followed suit. Kimo used his Shifting Sands to get LOS of Joe’s gate, and then used Tornado to destroy Joe’s titan gate (Kimo didn’t even need to use shift, because of an inexplicable hole in Joe’s wall). Joe didn’t attempt to kill Kimo’s titan gate, and instead used Shifting Sands to destroy Kimo’s wonder. However, Kimo had his titan, which easily destroyed Joe’s wonder, and then romped about in Joe’s base until Kimo pushed through on the right side and won without the need of his second wonder. GG.

Game 4

Kimo Joe
Now the one thing I find really cool about Ra wars, is that every minor god is open (unlike most mirror matchups). Ra wars can vary considerably, just due to minor good differences. Generally on higher hunt maps, Bast into Sekhmet is a good choice vs Ptah+Hathor. A one TC scarab rush should beat a 2 TC ptah FH. In this game, Kimo went with the 1 TC Scarab rush, whereas Joe opted for the two TC Ptah. However, the Scarab rush was a real risk here, because the map spawned with really low hunt. Despite that hurdle, Kimo's Scarab rush worked well, destroying Joe’s forward TC + Migdol, and even razing Joe’s base TC.

At this point, the game should have been won by Kimo. However, he grabbed his back Town Center instead of stealing Joe’s forward (and gold protecting) Town Center. Joe spent his last gold on Petsuchos, and they along with some chariots and a mass of villagers, headed back to Joe's forward gold mine + settlement. Kimo was waiting and ready, but he had his priests separated from his chariots. This allowed Joe to pick off Kimo’s priests, and the Petsuchos did the required work to win back the gold mine. Joe lived, but barely.

Moving forward, Joe took quite a few good military trades, and just like Game 3, came into early Mythic with the advantage. He used Tornado on Kimo’s forward base and then launched an attack on Kimo’s base Town Center, which was actually a fully-upgraded Citadel. Unfortunately for Joe, the Citadel turned out to be impregnable, and Joe was not quite able to destroy it. As the attack failed, the game turned against Joe. He overspent on the attack, which allowed Kimo to catch up in defense. And again, Joe set up a sub-standard trade route. Despite having map control, his route yielded 48 gold, whereas Kimo’s was approximately 100. This too directly affected Kimo’s ability to hold.

Kimo started a Titan Gate, and Joe was hesitant to build his, because Kimo still had Tornado in his back pocket. Joe desparately shifted a handful of Catapults to Kimo’s Titan Gate, but Kimo’s gate was around 90% completed. It was a futile effort, but for some reason, Kimo panicked and used Tornado to kill the catapults. This gave Joe one last chance - the ability to counter with his own Titan. However Kimo’s gate construction was way ahead, and was completed around when Joe began construction on his. Kimo sent his Titan down to Joe’s gate, and what unfolded was perhaps the most amusing and most depressing moment of the entire tournament. Kimo’s titan got within breathing distance of Joe’s gate when it was 68% completed. But for the next 32% of construction, a combination of path-blocking and incompetent Titaning resulted in Kimo’s titan never getting close enough to attack the gate. Joe’s titan landed on planet Ghost Lake, bringing hope to Joe's nation!

Then came the titan vs titan fight - a battle of heavyweights. Joe came in with a 1500 HP advantage, but with poor Titaning to rival that of Kimo’s, Joe’s Titan died first, with Kimo’s titan having about 145 HP left. By this time, Kimo had the advantage in the game, and was on the offensive, due to the damage done to Joe’s trade route while pathblocking the titan. Joe promptly lost his side town center, and the game was over. GG. Kimo took the series 4-0. Really nice game to end the tournament.
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+Spoiler+  

-Spoiler-  
Game 1
Kimo Joe
Joe aged up very slowly (5:00), attempted a forward shift, but was not quite able to pathblock citizens. The Atlantean fatties survived with no losses. Kimo went forward with hero oracles and killed two of Joe’s hunting villagers. So the early trade actually hurt Joe more than Kimo, and Set really needs an early eco advantage in order to win. Kimo made turma and boomed up, while Joe went with 2 TC Heroic. Joe went with primarily a slinger + chario combo, probably another mistake because Kimo’s turma+destroyer countered Joe's composition easily. In the end, Game 1 was a pretty easy win for Kimo’s Oranos. Kimo played well. GG.

Game 2

Kimo Joe
Both players actually fought a decent amount on water, but come Heroic Age, Kimo shifted entirely to land whereas Joe went hard (probably a bit too hard) on water. Kimo attacked Joe’s main TC early with some scarabs, while Joe gave up complete map control. Joe fell behind 4-2 TCs and got raided heavily on gold. Joe also opted for a fairly quick Mythic Age, forgoing a Heroic army which also contributed to the effectiveness of Kimo’s raids. Joe mounted a come back, somewhat courtesy of Kimo suiciding seven 7 siege towers ( a mere 2100 resources) just to destroy a town center. Joe was able to mine a forward gold uncontested, and also razed Kimo’s forward town center, evening up the town center score line. Joe then went offensive, but he stretched himself too thin, and had a bit of a clumsy army (catapult + elephant). By this time Kimo had Champion Camels, which ran in and massacred 6 catapults (a mere 2400 resources). Joe’s attack quickly faltered, Kimo took control of the gold mines again, and Joe was unable to defend Kimo’s counter attack. GG, nice game.

Game 3

Kimo Joe
Drenched River is a large map with choke-points in the middle. Boom is probably king here. Joe got the best Eggy vs Eggy relic (Caravan Relic). Also, Joe used what I felt was a superior strategy (3 TC using hunt as opposed to 2 TC rain), which resulting in him being slightly ahead. The two players traded a few raids in Heroic Age, with not much harm done to either side. Kimo again suicided siege on a town center. Joe went into early Mythic Age with the advantage, and was on the attack for a long time. However, far away from the fighting, Joe was slow to setup a trade, despite having the trade relic. Then when Joe finally began trading, he had an incredibly suboptimal trade route, for no reason at all. This allowed Kimo to have a much better trade route, despite being on the defense (88 gold vs 24 gold). The trade difference gave Kimo time to defend. Over time, Kimo’s better eco gave him the advantage, and by the time Joe fixed his trade route, he no longer had the edge.

The game rolled on, and on, and on. Kimo started a wonder, and then a titan. Joe followed suit. Kimo used his Shifting Sands to get LOS of Joe’s gate, and then used Tornado to destroy Joe’s titan gate (Kimo didn’t even need to use shift, because of an inexplicable hole in Joe’s wall). Joe didn’t attempt to kill Kimo’s titan gate, and instead used Shifting Sands to destroy Kimo’s wonder. However, Kimo had his titan, which easily destroyed Joe’s wonder, and then romped about in Joe’s base until Kimo pushed through on the right side and won without the need of his second wonder. GG.

Game 4

Kimo Joe
Now the one thing I find really cool about Ra wars, is that every minor god is open (unlike most mirror matchups). Ra wars can vary considerably, just due to minor good differences. Generally on higher hunt maps, Bast into Sekhmet is a good choice vs Ptah+Hathor. A one TC scarab rush should beat a 2 TC ptah FH. In this game, Kimo went with the 1 TC Scarab rush, whereas Joe opted for the two TC Ptah. However, the Scarab rush was a real risk here, because the map spawned with really low hunt. Despite that hurdle, Kimo's Scarab rush worked well, destroying Joe’s forward TC + Migdol, and even razing Joe’s base TC.

At this point, the game should have been won by Kimo. However, he grabbed his back Town Center instead of stealing Joe’s forward (and gold protecting) Town Center. Joe spent his last gold on Petsuchos, and they along with some chariots and a mass of villagers, headed back to Joe's forward gold mine + settlement. Kimo was waiting and ready, but he had his priests separated from his chariots. This allowed Joe to pick off Kimo’s priests, and the Petsuchos did the required work to win back the gold mine. Joe lived, but barely.

Moving forward, Joe took quite a few good military trades, and just like Game 3, came into early Mythic with the advantage. He used Tornado on Kimo’s forward base and then launched an attack on Kimo’s base Town Center, which was actually a fully-upgraded Citadel. Unfortunately for Joe, the Citadel turned out to be impregnable, and Joe was not quite able to destroy it. As the attack failed, the game turned against Joe. He overspent on the attack, which allowed Kimo to catch up in defense. And again, Joe set up a sub-standard trade route. Despite having map control, his route yielded 48 gold, whereas Kimo’s was approximately 100. This too directly affected Kimo’s ability to hold.

Kimo started a Titan Gate, and Joe was hesitant to build his, because Kimo still had Tornado in his back pocket. Joe desparately shifted a handful of Catapults to Kimo’s Titan Gate, but Kimo’s gate was around 90% completed. It was a futile effort, but for some reason, Kimo panicked and used Tornado to kill the catapults. This gave Joe one last chance - the ability to counter with his own Titan. However Kimo’s gate construction was way ahead, and was completed around when Joe began construction on his. Kimo sent his Titan down to Joe’s gate, and what unfolded was perhaps the most amusing and most depressing moment of the entire tournament. Kimo’s titan got within breathing distance of Joe’s gate when it was 68% completed. But for the next 32% of construction, a combination of path-blocking and incompetent Titaning resulted in Kimo’s titan never getting close enough to attack the gate. Joe’s titan landed on planet Ghost Lake, bringing hope to Joe's nation!

Then came the titan vs titan fight - a battle of heavyweights. Joe came in with a 1500 HP advantage, but with poor Titaning to rival that of Kimo’s, Joe’s Titan died first, with Kimo’s titan having about 145 HP left. By this time, Kimo had the advantage in the game, and was on the offensive, due to the damage done to Joe’s trade route while pathblocking the titan. Joe promptly lost his side town center, and the game was over. GG. Kimo took the series 4-0. Really nice game to end the tournament.
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