With MemeTeam and Burnt Out struggling at the bottom of the table and almost confirmed for relegation, the other 4 teams in the Minor League still had everything to play for as we went into the final 5 matches of the EVE_NT Championship Minor League.
" target="_blank">Charlatans vs Burnt Out

With a Hyperion micro-jump to get to behind the enemy team, Charlatans started off with an aggressive start on Burnt Out's Osprey. With the logi ship down it was a cruiser trade off, as the Caracal of Charlatans died shortly after. As the rest of his team worked on the Tempest, Burnt Out took the Corax out of the equation and followed it up with a kill on Charlatans' Hurricane before the Minmatar battleship finally fell. A Punisher and Hyperion of Charlatans now faced down the Naga, Talwar, and Merlin of Burnt Out, and it was the Punisher that succumbed to the firepower first. The Naga had been taken dangerously low, allowing the Hyperion to finish the job before moving swiftly on to dispatching the Merlin. The Talwar would not go down without a fight, spending the rest of the match avoiding the Hyperion and picking off drones where he could- but it was Charlatans who picked up the win, their second of the tournament.
" target="_blank">MemeTeam vs Phalanx

Phalanx managed to drop the shields on both the Hyperion and Harbinger of MemeTeam in the opening minute of the match, though both teams had been able to pick up a logi ship. It didn't seem to help the Hyperion, as MemeTeam's Augoror and maintenance bots struggled to bring his armour back after a worrying dip into half structure. Swarms of combat drones and logi bots surrounded both teams' battleships, as well as the Drake of Phalanx, though both managed to hold on well into the second half of the match until the Rokh finally broke under fire. Their Merlin dropped swiftly afterwards, putting MemeTeam two kills and 6 points ahead. The Phalanx team's damage appeared to have dropped off far more than expected - which turned out to be from the Drake burning out its launchers. MemeTeam were in the clear to deal with the Drake and Scythe, scoring themselves a win as the Talwar lived to see the end of the match.
" target="_blank">Clevergirls vs Burnt Out

Micro-jumping Hyperion tactics returned as Burnt Out sent theirs after the Algos and Exequror of the Clevergirls team. As damage appeared to be split across 4 of the 5 Clevergirls ships, the Hyperion itself was slowly taken into structure; it ended in a battleship/battlecruiser trade as it took the Oracle down with it as it died. Repositioning and regrouping gave both teams a little breathing room, only the Algos dropping as the match passed the 5 minute mark. Clevergirls started to close in on the Naga, managing to break through the Scythe reps and take it into low armour, neuting and webbing it almost to a standstill. With less than half structure left, the Scythe managed to keep the Naga alive long enough to see Burnt Out take the win by a single point.
" target="_blank">Charlatans vs MemeTeam

Charlatans made the brave decision to field a Caracal instead of a logistics ship, despite both shield logi ships slipping through the ban net. The Augoror of MemeTeam was taken in half armour in the opening 30 seconds, struggling to recover while the rest of his team beat down Charlatans' Hurricane and picking up a brief 1-for-1 trade. It was short-lived, as Charlatans responded with a swift kill on the Algos before turning their fire on to MemeTeam's Harbinger. It was a race to the death between Tempest and Harbinger, with Charlatan's battleship just able to cling on with less than half structure. The Punisher was the next to fall, leaving just the Abaddon of MemeTeam against the 4 ships of Charlatans. As the attack bar of MemeTeam dropped to almost nothing, it was apparent that the Abaddon would be the second ship of the day to burn out his weapons. Unable to defend himself, it would be Charlatans picking up another win and taking third place in the standings.
" target="_blank">Provi-ShotZ vs Phalanx

In possibly the first shield vs shield match of the league, it was also the first time seeing a Ferox on grid courtesy of Provi-ShotZ. A slow game of cat and mouse formed the first half of the match, positioning and repositioning until both teams managed to get grapplers, webs, and neuts on their opponent. The Drake and Talwar of Phalanx died under a sudden hail of fire as Provi-ShotZ closed in, their own Ferox dropping into armour before being caught and repped back up by their Osprey. The Phalanx Scythe was the next to fall, leaving just two ships alive with a minute and a half to go. Provi-ShotZ needed to take down Col Deathstroke in the Maelstrom in order to steal first place from Clevergirls, but just could not apply enough damage in time, picking up the win but missing out on the top spot in the League.
 
With just a single point difference separating them, it would be Clevergirls crowned winners of the Minor League, with Provi-ShotZ coming in second and Charlatans in third. Which brings an end to the Minor League for the fall season of the EVE_NT Championship, look out for the results of the Major League final on EVE_NT Soon!