The Major League teams returned to Thunderdome for another night of spaceship combat! The Other Team and Clevergirls were neck and neck at the top of the table as the evening began - would they still be there by the end of the night?

Volta vs Team Pretty

Team Pretty seemed determined to take out the Exequror of Volta as soon as possible, but made a couple of quick target swaps onto the Rifter and Algos as their own Apocalypse started to drop dangerously low into armour. The Rifter would be the first to fall, its Algos teammate dying quickly afterwards. Volta picked up a good trade in the form of the Apocalypse, also managing to grab a kill on Team Pretty’s Talwar just before their battered Exequror bit the dust. With their heavy-hitters still on the field, Volta cleaned up the Ferox and Caracal to seal their first victory of the evening.

Clevergirls vs The Charlatans

The Myrmidon of Clevergirls took the brunt of the opening damage as both teams vyed for a good position, The Charlatans taking first blood with a kill on Clevergirls’ Slasher. Even with their Cyclone locked down and slowly bleeding into armour, Clevergirls’ Dragoon dropped just before his team could finish off The Charlatans’ battlecruiser. Charlatans were finally able to chase down and dispatch the Augoror, which would prove to be the last kill of the match as both teams dodged and weaved their way out of range and further destruction- including a nicely-executed micro jump from the Clevergirls Hyperion to get it out of harm’s way. A win for The Charlatans, but a good showing from Clevergirls.
 

The Other Team vs ProviShotZ

The first outing of the Kestrel came courtesy of ProviShotZ, both teams fielding a shield comp and bringing both shield logi out to play too. No amount of repairs could save the Thrasher of ProviShotZ as it was quickly dealt with by The Other Team’s higher control and focused damage. Neither team would find a suitable breakthrough for a good few minutes, until The Other Team threw everything they had at the ProviShotZ’s Tempest and brought it into low structure. It survived long enough to take their opponent’s Drake into structure, but made for a 5-point explosion as The Other Team took the lead. The sudden destruction of their Talwar turned out to be a boundary violation, followed by a boundary violation from the ProviShotZ team in the form of their Scythe. With no logistics, their Naga was the next victim- all The Other Team had to do was clean up the Kestrel and earn themselves a win.
 

Team Pretty vs Team Johnny

Team Pretty charged in to grab early tackle on the Typhoon, but their own Oracle was the first loss of the match. Team Johnny’s Typhoon and Team Pretty’s Rifter exploded within a couple of seconds of each other, bringing the teams level on points. With Team Johnny’s Osprey the next victim, there was nothing to keep their Thrasher alive; they also traded their Slasher for the Caracal of Team Pretty, leaving just 3 ships on the field. Team Johnny’s Ferox took the chance to dash away, repositioning to take on the Talwar while trying to stay clear of the Tempest. The bold move worked, but the 1-v-1 of Tempest and Ferox would see Team Pretty’s Tempest come out on top to score them the win.
 

Volta vs Phalanx

The ECM of the Volta Scorpion threatened to play hell with the Augoror of Phalanx, and seemed to be successful at first as the Phalanx Algos dropped through shield and armour without help. With the Algos running out of range, it would be their Rifter teammate who would drop before the destroyer. Phalanx wanted that Scorpion off the field, with their 3 remaining ships focusing on it as Volta rained down on the Prophecy and Augoror, taking out the logistics ship and leaving the battlecruiser for seconds. The frigate logi Bantam did a great job of keeping the Scorpion out of the depths of structure, keeping the battleship alive to see the end of the match- a domination victory as Volta took down Phalanx’s Abaddon without loss.
 

The Charlatans vs The Other Team

The match that hinged on ‘which battleship would explode first’ - lots of early-game damage on the Algos failed to gain a kill, so it seemed that both teams went hell for leather on their big opponents. The Hyperion of The Other Team kept dipping in and out of armour with the Augoror focusing on it, while the Rokh of the Charlatans was in a similar situation with its Scythe teammate. Despite best efforts of The Charlatans’ Scythe, team captain Jose Zampano’s Rokh broke first - after 7 minutes of tense back and forth. With less than a minute left, the only other death of the match would be the Cyclone of Charlatans; a hard-fought victory for The Other Team.

Clevergirls vs Team Johnny

With Team Johnny’s Raven in a great position to micro jump and catch the Apocalypse of Clevergirls, it seemed to come just a bit too late as their Thrasher was lost before the jump drive spooled up. Control seemed split across both teams, the Raven unable to catch the Apocalypse but the Rifter and Oracle of Clevergirls looking to be in some trouble as they started taking more and more damage. Once again it was the battleships raining down fire on each other, with Team Johnny’s Raven ending up on the losing side of that battle. Clevergirls’ Exequror repped the Apocalypse back up and his team split damage across the Cyclone and Slasher of Team Johnny, the Cyclone being the next to fall and his Scythe teammate exploding shortly after. A second dominating victory of the night as the Slasher went down, Clevergirls keeping their second place spot in the table.

The Other Team stay top of the board after their pair of wins, but both Clevergirls and The Charlatans are hot on their heels with two weeks of matches still to play. Phalanx and ProviShotZ have yet to pick up a win, but there is still time for upsets as the Major League continues on March 12th.

A full rundown of the match results and points scored is available over on our Arena site, along with information on the rules and ship fittings of this season’s Championship.

It’s the return of the Minor League teams this weekend, so tune in to Twitch on March 5th to see who is in the running for being in next season’s Major League!