Pandemic Legion dominate EVE Alliance Tournament VIII
Battling their way through a series of impressive matches, HYDRA RELOADED and Pandemic Legion made it to the final match of this year's EVE Online Alliance Tournament. Twenty-two thousand people tuned in to watch this weekend's tournament coverage live, complete with expert commentary and guest developers chatting about what goes on behind the scenes at CCP Games. The question on everyone's mind was whether reigning champions Pandemic Legion would lose their title or win the tournament for a third year in a row. In a fast-paced fight that will have EVE players talking for weeks to come, PL wiped the floor with HYDRA to secure their place once again as the absolute best team in the tournament.
PL took home the first place prize of 50 billion ISK, a gold medal for each participant and 50 limited edition "Adrestia" Heavy Assault Cruisers. HYDRA secured the second place prize of 25 billion ISK, a silver medal for each participant and 50 limited edition "Utu" Assault Frigates. With last year's "Freki" assault frigate prizes selling for upwards of 15 billion ISK, it's safe to say both the Adrestia and the Utu will sell for billions each on the black market. Third and fourth places went to Darkside and WE FORM VOLTRON respectively for their impressive efforts in this incredibly difficult tourament.
Skip past the cut for a rundown of what happened in this final match. Alternatively, you could wait for CCP to upload the match video and see for yourself.
A textbook win
HYDRA fielded a standard team of three Myrmidons, three Rooks, an Onerios, one Ishkur and two Taranis. That setup had won several matches in a row for them, and they were in no hurry to break their winning streak. Unfortunately, this gave PL the chance to pick a team design to counter their ECM-heavy opposition. PL brought three Sleipnirs, one Claymore, a Huginn, a Scimitar, three Sabres and a Thrasher to the match. The fight was a rapid white-wash, with PL not losing a single ship.
Rather than taking out the HYDRA Rooks as quickly as possible to eliminate their potent electronic warfare on the field, PL went for a somewhat more aggressive approach. Relying on ECCM to keep their Sleipnirs in the fight, they rushed at HYDRA's frigates to eliminate their tackling ability and potential tracking disruption. The Rooks were left until everything else was dead, PL instead switching straight to the team's main damage-dealing core of three Myrmidons once the frigates were down. From there it was a swift victory for Pandemic Legion and a textbook example of why it's a bad idea to field the same setup in almost every fight.
Congratulations go to Pandemic Legion on winning the tournament for a third year in a row and to CCP for providing some of the best live coverage yet. The new alliance tournament website with videos and match reports has been a great resource for players interested in the competition. If you missed any of the matches in the tournament, you can catch them again on the tournament website and CCP's official YouTube page. Videos of the finals will be uploaded within the next few days, so keep an eye out for them.
