Fewer rare ships but more clutch plays and close matches was the theme for day 2 of the Alliance Tournament. Alongside the scheduled matches of the day were four rescheduled matches from day 1 after the JB-007 system suffered technical issues; but with elimination for some teams now a real prospect, everyone needed to bring their A-game to secure their place in the second weekend's matches.
KICKing it off
The KICK team found themselves with first match of the day once again, hoping to bounce back from their loss against Exodus the previous day with a match against Polarbears. Neither team was messing about, with " target="_blank">both teams fielding their Bhaalgorn flagships and meaning business. It was some well-coordinated piloting from KICK that earned them the win, leaving only a single Polarbears Deacon alive and losing just three of their support ships.
Little Ibis That Could
What do you do with the spare point on your team? Most seemed to favour the reduced point cost Cruor, but LowSechnaya Sholupen chose to field an Ibis instead " target="_blank">as they faced off against Brotherhood of Spacers. What may have seemed a slightly odd pick proved its worth, as the little frigate appeared to get right up in the face of Brotherhood's Vindicator and even successfully landed a few cycles of jams. Despite succumbing to enemy fire, that little Ibis may have helped LowSechnaya grab their first win of the tournament.
Close Calls
With both winner bracket and elimination brackets being played, there were plenty of predictable wins, surprise losses, and amazingly close matches on second day of AT XIV. SOLAR FLEET knocked Shadow Cartel out of the tournament in a literal last-minute blaze of glory. Shadow Cartel had clawed a 10-point lead with 30 seconds to go, but the focus fire of the four remaining Solar Fleet was enough to break through the reps of the enemy Scimitar and take down a Navy Scorpion - scoring 19 points for Solar Fleet with 17 seconds left to play. It all came down to Solar Fleet's Rapier - if it died before time was up, Shadow Cartel would win by 5 points. Sadly there wasn't enough damage on target in time, and Solar Fleet were the victors in the closest match of the tournament so far.
Yet More Flag-gorns
Whether fighting to win or fighting for survival, 8 more flagships exploded on day 2. 5 Bhaalgorns, 2 Typhoon Fleet Issues and an Armageddon bit the dust for an estimated total of 66 billion ISK in losses - almost a third of which was the Bhaalgorn of Free Gates Coalition in their catch-up match against THE R0NIN.
Jump Around
What do you do when the enemy comes running at you? If you're The Culture, you could try " target="_blank">MJDing your entire fleet behind enemy lines. As Exodus scrambled to reform and chase down the slippery ships, The Culture simply turned around and MJD'd right back to the centre of the arena. A great maneuver to watch, but another bold move that didn't quite pay off, as their fleet slowly fell to the practiced coordination of the Exodus team and only managed to take a single Brutix Navy Issue with them.
Roundup
Tournament regulars and up-and-comers alike fought hard and well to earn their places in the second weekend of the Alliance Tournament; A Band Apart and Villore Accords both progress to tough matches against Spectre Fleet Alliance and WE FORM V0LTA respectively, alongside a PL -NC. showdown and Phoebe Freeport Republic facing off against League of Unaligned Master Pilots. CVA, Circle-of-Two and Rote Kapelle are three well-known teams that sadly did not make it through, but the second weekend of Alliance Tournament XIV is shaping up to be a rollercoaster of spaceship battles and explosions.
Trivia - Svipuls and Hounds are the two most popular picks of the tournament so far - though almost half of the Svipuls have met an untimely end, along with over half of the Hounds. F's in local, everyone.