We started Ceruim (Lev, warbird), bong (warbird, javelin), Lex (warbird) and Jam (warbird). Our only sub was me (bird). Dom starters were Air, crzyman, prowl and spectacle 2 (all birds) and they subbed in Krogoth (lanc) and falsehood (bird). Of the six players Dom used four of them were on Vic's roster at the start of the season and of the two that weren't one of them actually asked to join the squad.
We really lost this match in the pre-game. I usually like to have the starters picked at least 30 minutes before the game, then go into our private arena and have them play together against our bench until our match is called. On Sunday we never had 4 players until just before the game started. That meant we didn't have a single squad practice before the match and ended up warming up by dueling each other. I had no time to pick a good four to stand up to Dom's aggressive style and get everyone on the same page. I just picked the four we had and got them in the match. Considering how bad pre-game was we started really well.
We got the first kill of the game (air kb bong) and matched Dom pretty much kill-for-kill from then on. We stayed tight and didn't let Dom separate us. I was surprised at Dom's ship selection. Dom are a squad that are powered by aggressive weasel pilots, but they put an all-warbird line out against us. Things fell apart for us at the 31 minute mark however.
Dom were leading 5-4, but we had two slots on their last life (Jam and Cerium). Dom had subbed in Falsehood for Air and then Korgoth for prowl to keep their slots strong. I was the only sub so I went in for Jam when he hit 0 reps, but Cerium had to play on on 1 life and eventually on 0 reps and Dom targeted him. The next kill was predictably Cerium to put us at 3v4 and after that Dom took over. We never got another kill and lost 12-4.
It's still early in the season so I'm not panicking yet. We have 5 regular season games and 2 seeding rounds to turn it around. We still have some good players who've yet to play in a game who will be showing for us now and we've yet to put out our best starting four together in a game.
Next up for us is Hitlist. This is a new squad but they have some experienced pilots on their roster. I wouldn't call this a must-win game for us, but that's only because I consider all games must-win. I've started scheduling and will post here when I have a confirmed time. It might get a little dirty as Hitlist like times a lot later than we do. Finally, here's all the stats from the match.
Box Score
Spec Log
Player Stats
Screenshot
That screenshot gives you an idea about how messed up the start was. Anyone who's been on Vic knows how anal I get about making sure everyone wears the squad banner and I let three people get away without wearing it on Sunday. Scandalous.
posted by CelebPixx on Tuesday, April 05, 2005
