It was final showdown day for the Minor League teams - Templis looking for points to take them out of the danger zone, while Sudden Otters and Exodunks continued to vye for the top spot. We were joined by CCP Antiquarian and CCP Fozzie as guest host and caster for this hard-fought final round of spaceship combat!

Templis vs Sudden Otters

A tentative start to a crucial match for Sudden Otters - a domination victory here would secure them the top spot in the league, but a long game of cat and mouse saw damage without kills being traded back and forth for the first 5 minutes of the match. Despite taking the support ships of Sudden Otters into armour, it would be Templis’ Myrmidon that would get locked down and surrender first blood. With links gone, Sudden Otters made short work of the Griffin and started beating on the Dragoon and Apocalypse of Templis to try and clean up for a 4-point victory. With just 2 minutes left it was touch and go, Templis trying to hold on and claw back a kill as their Dragoon finally exploded. With the Apocalypse in structure and with a minute left to go, it was all up to the Augoror to stall for time and run away from danger as the battleship fell. Despite best efforts of the Sudden Otters team, Omar Jumper in the Augoror managed to hold out and deny a domination victory- no first place for Sudden Otters, but a win nonetheless.

Make Amarr Great Again vs Nasty Boyz

An early micro jump drive attempt from the MAGA Hyperion sent it straight on top of the Exequror of Nasty Boyz, prompting their Rifter to double back and attempt to hold the battleship down as a target. MAGA responded by sending their Merlin into the fray, making short work of the Nasty Boyz frigate as their own Hurricane started to bleed into armour. With no logi ship on the field, there was little that could be done to save it under the force of Nasty Boyz’ focused fire. Merlin tackle on Nasty Boyz’ Exequror gave the Hyperion a good target, but it would prove to be a cruiser trade as MAGA’s Caracal died after being caught by the Prophecy. MAGA’s trusty Merlin was the next victim, leaving just a destroyer and battleship to take on last 3 Nasty Boyz. As the Talwar fell, MAGA’s lone Hyperion burnt down the Prophecy before turning on the Megathron, pulling range to try and repair failing armour, choosing to micro jump to further increase the gap. A good try, but not enough to prevent the explosion with just 15 seconds of time left - second win of the evening went to Nasty Boyz.
 

Offline vs Power Ducks

Both teams kept their distance at the start of the match, Power Ducks sniping at a Coercer while Offline tried to pick off the Scythe. A charge from Power Ducks’ Hyperion helped apply pressure to the Offline team, but Offline traded their frigate for destroyer as Power Ducks lost their Thrasher. Close-range blaster fire on Offline’s Prophecy took it into armour, but being held down as the rest of Offline closed in took the Hyperion down into structure and death without the loss of their Prophecy. The Scythe of Power Ducks was next to fall as Offline repaired their armour back up, and as the Thrasher and Ferox fell it would be a victory for Offline.
 

Make Amarr Great Again vs Sudden Otters

Yet again, Sudden Otters were seeking a domination win to seal their place at the top of the league- but MAGA had other plans. Their Dragoon and Megathron took big hits in the opening minutes, but Sudden Otters got close enough for their Tempest and Slasher to get caught and face significant damage. Most of the MAGA team were diipping into armour, their Punisher touching structure before being pulled back by the Exequror, but still no kills for either side after 7 minutes of play. The stalemate was eventually broken as both teams managed to break through a ship at the same time- the Dragoon of MAGA following the Scythe of Sudden Otters into oblivion. The loss of the logi meant both the Slasher and Ferox of Sudden Otters were dispatched in rapid succession, MAGA closing in on the Thrasher with just a minute left to play. Sudden Otters would see first place slip from their grasp as the game ended with only their Tempest left on the field, a great victory for Make Amarr Great Again.
 

Templis vs Power Ducks

A huge burst of damage from the Hyperion of Templis melted the Atron of Power Ducks in just a few quick shots, stealing a quick 1-point before turning on the Myrmidon and Algos. There was still barely a scratch on the Templis team until they closed in on the Power Ducks battlecruiser, but the loss of the Templis Thrasher was quickly followed by the death of Power Ducks’ Algos, as their Myrmidon finally hit structure and exploded. Just a Megathron and an Exequror left for Power Ducks, but the Gallente jams from Templis’ Griffin did their best to stop the Megathron applying damage as the rest of the Templis team followed it up and took it down. The Exequror of La Loca was left as last man standing for Power Ducks, choosing to run for the arena boundary and finish the match, handing a win to Templis.
 

Exodunks vs Nasty Boyz

Exodunks brought the Raven out to play for their final match of the season, though it was their Thrasher who took the brunt of the early-match damage. Even with Exequror reps, the Apocalypse of Nasty Boyz kept dropping through armour, a quick switch of damage by Exodunks onto the Algos saw it wiped from the field pretty quickly. Exodunks Thrasher took on Nasty Boyz’ Rifter to take down the tackle, with the destroyer coming out on top and living to tell about it as Nasty Boyz continued to focus on the Raven. With the Raven, Apocalypse and Prophecy all in structure, it was a race to see which would fall first- and it ended with death for the Amarr battlecruiser and a micro jump from the Raven to take it out of harm’s way. A clever play from the Apocalypse of Nasty Boyz did away with Exodunks Griffin, the battleship taking advantage of the frigate’s orbit to sling it out of the arena to its doom before skirting away. No domination victory of Exodunks, but their 4 remaining ships would take down the Apocalypse -but not the Exequror- before time ran out.
 

Offline vs Footwork

Offline’s Hyperion and Coercer were the targets of Footwork as the match kicked off, pushing Offline’s Augoror to keep both in good shape; but an aggressive push from the Offline team saw most of Footwork stray dangerously close to the arena edge. While team captain Lady Arrien was able to turn her Scythe away at the last moment, their Talwar met its end on the wrong side of the boundary. As Offline caught the Ferox with webs and grapples, it would be a second kill for the armour team as Footwork struggled to break through reps as their Slasher was also taken out. Footwork’s Scythe and Typhoon were on the run, Offline giving chase with just their Prophecy taking the occasional scratch to its armour. Footwork’s Scythe was finally caught and destroyed, and it was just a slow burn of the Typhoon to go before Offline took a domination victory in the final match of the Minor League.
 

Congratulations to Exodunks for securing victory in this Minor League season- we look forward to seeing them in the Major League next season, along with Offline, Sudden Otters, and Nasty Boyz. Commiserations, well played, and GF to Templis, Make Amarr Great Again, Power Ducks, and Footwork, who are relegated out of the Championship. Four new teams will rise to take their places for the next season, challenging the four teams that are relegated from the Major League in next week’s finals.

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.

With the Minor League settled, there is just a few days left til the Major League finals on March 26th- who will rise victorious and who will see themselves relegated? Join us on Twitch on Sunday along with guest analysts/commentators CCP Antiquarian and CCP Larrikin to see how things will play out!