There were explosions, there were shock defeats and even more boundary violations in the final day of the EVE_NT Championship Major League. Joined by CCP Larrikin and CCP Antiquarian, it was time to see who would be sent down to the Minor League and who would pick up the lion’s share of the exclusive IGC Raven SKINs!

The Charlatans vs Volta

A bold rush in from The Charlatans’ Rifter ended in a dead frigate, Volta claiming a kill in the first minute before turning their guns back on the Augoror. Without the Rifter support, The Charlatans were now more at the mercy of Volta’s Hyperion- their Augoror finally succumbed to focused fire, the Algos following swiftly after. Charlatans’ safety seemed to be in jeopardy, with only one point separating them from the relegation zone; picking up a kill on Volta’s Ferox denied a domination victory, but with just an Abaddon left on field there was little else Charlatans could claw back. A win for Volta, keeping them afloat in the top 4 of the table.

ProviShotZ vs Team Pretty

Team Pretty burned in as ProviShotz pulled back for range, and the opening minute saw control fly back and forth between support ships. Team Pretty took ProviShotz’s Algos in low armour with little trouble but would end up trading their Drake for the destroyer, giving ProviShotz the edge on points. More points would follow as Team Pretty’s Scythe was the next to fall, though Team Pretty were starting to chip into the armour of the Armageddon. ProviShotz threw everything at they had at their opponents’ Rokh, taking the kill and leaving just a Thrasher and Griffin to finish off. The win for ProviShotz allowed them to leapfrog ahead of Team Pretty, within striking distance of the top 4 spots.

Phalanx vs Team Johnny

With Phalanx still yet to win a match, there was still the chance of them helping deny a top-4 place to Team Johnny if they were able to take victory in this match. Phalanx’s Dominix and Team Johnny’s Thrasher were the first casualties of this match, both taken out in the opening minute of the match. Phalanx’s Caracal got caught by Team Johnny’s Cyclone, holding it down until it exploded while Phalanx struggled to get the remaining potential damage through the repairs of Team Johnny’s Osprey. As Phalanx’s Ferox was the next to fall, it seemed all wrapped up in Team Johnny’s favour; while a domination victory would have been ideal, 3 points would help them climb up the table.

Clevergirls vs Team Pretty

An Osprey in support proved useful as Clevergirls’ Slasher made a charge into Team Pretty’s Armageddon, pinning it down and allowing its Raven teammate to target paint it. As the battleship started to fall faster and faster, Clevergirls’ Raven was not out of danger itself as Team Pretty made it their primary. The Raven would take a chunk out of Team Johnny’s Prophecy before finally exploding, the Prophecy itself managing to pull itself out of harm’s way. Full damage on the Osprey removed Clevergirls’ main source of repairs from the field with less than half the match remaining, their Slasher being vollied off the field fairly quickly as it tried to engage an Atron and was quickly shut down. The frigate would prove to be the final death of the match, as both teams dodged back and forth for the last remaining minutes. Team Pretty victorious, gaining much-needed points to try and challenge the current top 4.

ProviShotz vs The Charlatans

Big chunks of shield damage were taken by the battlecruisers of both teams as the match began, The Charlatans’ Osprey struggling to keep up repairs as ProviShotz’ Exequror tried to stop the bleed into armour. Drone damage from Curators helped make short work of the armour of Charlatans’ Cyclone, while a skirmish between smaller support ships saw the Talwar of Charlatans emerge victorious in a tussle with the Slasher of ProviShotz. A short-lived victory as the Talwar was dispatched quickly after, their Tempest teammate in trouble as it fell into armour. Neuts from the Armageddon rendered Charlatans’ Merlin less effective, as all damage from ProviShotz finally took down the Tempest. Focus shifted back to the Cyclone, ProviShotz looking in command of this match now as just two more Charlatans ships remained. Charlatans’ Osprey and Merlin held on as long as they could, but it was a victory and 3 crucial points for ProviShotz.

Phalanx vs The Other Team

One last shot at a win for Phalanx, and they started with a bang- by destroying The Other Team’s Thrasher in the first 30 seconds of the match. It would prove to be a short-lived joy for Phalanx as their Vigil strayed too close to the arena edge and fell to a boundary violation. The Other Team were beating down Phalanx’s Tempest, and with no dedicated logistics to help keep it alive it was not long for this world. The Other Team did lose their Osprey in return, but battled on and took Phalanx’s Hurricane in trade, all but sealing the match in their favour. Phalanx had one last burst in them, burning down the Merlin before trying to pull to a safe range to deal with the Cyclone and Hyperion left of The Other Team. Despite best efforts, the Caracal and then the Talwar would fall, keeping The Other Team’s undefeated record intact.

Team Johnny vs Volta

As both teams chose their positions, Volta’s Scythe seemed poised to be the first casualty of the match- but a quick switch onto their Slasher claimed first blood in favour of Team Johnny. The Thrasher followed their Slasher teammate into destruction, Team Johnny almost untouched as they carried on their killing streak with focused fire on the Dominix. A domination victory for Team Johnny would catapult them from 5th to 2nd, keeping them in the Major league - as Volta’s Ferox exploded to leave just the Scythe, it looked like it would indeed be a clean sweep for Team Johnny. As StarFleetCommander’s Scythe skirted dangerously close to the arena edge in an attempt to bait the Merlin into a boundary violation, there was still a chance that it could survive for the last 3 minutes; but with just a minute left, his hull gave out and handed a domination victory to Team Johnny with one final explosion.

The Other Team retained a clean sweep at the top of the table, Team Johnny vaulting up the standings to 2nd with that brilliant final match. Volta were just a point behind, and ProviShotz 2 points behind that, to fill out the roster for 4 teams keeping their place in the Major League. Clevergirls, Team Pretty, The Charlatans and Phalanx will be moving down to the Minor League for next season to meet our Minor League top 4.

The final standings and full details of the matches can be found on our Arena site, along with interviews with some of the teams and a whole host of stats-based goodness!

Congratulations and GF to all the team and pilots and a huge thank you to all the NT and CCP staff who helped make this EVE_NT Championship such a success! We hope to see you all again in the future for even more spaceship explosions.