Forge Hub vs. Forge Cafe
It's been quite some time since the Forge Hub Staff have participated in the traditional no-holds-barred fisticuffs challenge of an SNF. Fortunately, nearly a month of planning and finding free time has finally yielded a date and time for a welterweight title match between ourselves, and Forge Cafe.
I did say we had a traditional SNF, but we wanted to add a little twist to the story. Both sides agreed to a 6v6 - with teams composed of half staff and half community players - for our rematch. Wait... what? Rematch? Yep, this isn't our first face off. With a 2-3 loss to Forge Cafe over three years ago, we have been training both mentally and physically for our return to glory as the underdogs of this SNF matchup.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, here are your starting six for Team Rocky Balboa!
(Thanks to those who practiced with us beforehand, your help is greatly appreciated)!
[l-col]Forge Hub - Team Balboa
Black Theorem
Rorak Kuroda
Shad0w Viper
Cheeze
Shanon
Yellow Sausage[/l-col][r-col]Forge Cafe - Team Staffuchino
undr zid
Other Guy1
J o n e z y
Unusual Hiccup
FC Elijah
FC Quicksilver[/r-col]
Game 1
Multi Flag CTF on Regression V1.3
The thirty minutes of practice before the opening bell pumped up Team Balboa. We were excited, a little cautious, but we were ready to kick ass. With a flip of the coin, we started things off with Multi Flag on FC Quicksilver's map, Regression V1.3. This match served both teams well in sizing each other up and to plan for the battles ahead. Both teams had kills spread around the map, but we both had an ironclad defense around our flags, leading to only a couple of pulls and no points scored for either team during the ten minute match.
Final Score
Team Balboa - 0
Team Staffuchino - 0
Game 2
Zero Bloom Slayer DMRs on Kanava District
With Staffuchino winning the initial coin toss for map pick, and the ensuing tie, it was Team Balboa's turn to select a map for game two. We were conflicted over which one to pick but luckily Rorak picked out a previously featured map, Kanava District, to settle the argument.
Team Balboa held the lead early on, and never looked back. When we had 20 points, they had 15. When we had 30, they had 19. My two triple kills with the sword and Xanon's killtacular early on were but sweet, delicious frosting atop the Cake of Truth, that truth being: we gave them a thrashing.
Final Score
Team Balboa - 75
Team Staffuchino - 54
Game 3
Zero Bloom Slayer DMRs on Rest V1.1
Coming off the first real win of the game, we felt confident we could take them down swiftly in the DMR battles and out-slay them on their second map pick, Rest V1.1. Oh, how foolish we were. Rest didn't give us a chance to "rest" (sorry lol), with long and wide lines of sight and sparse cover, spacious ramps flanking the center dance floor, and a pretty snazzy glass bridge.
This match was a true test of skill for both teams. NOT ONCE did a gap between the scores exceed 4 points. The leading team switched 7 times in just 6 minutes. In other words, it was an extremely close game from beginning to end. Luckily a last-second surge led by Shanon and finished by Shadow and I gave us two kills that put us on the winners' podium with a one point lead.
Final Score
Team Balboa - 50
Team Staffuchino- 49
Game 4
Surely by now Forge Cafe has no more gas in the tank, right? Surely they don't think they can rally a win and stop our sweep? While we celebrated such a close win, Team Staffuchino quietly threw down Monumental and started off the match.
It took the team maybe seven seconds to form an opinion on the map, but it was pretty accurate: Monumental needs monumental work. The map is a series of platforms and pathways that meandered diagonally from one base to the other. There was plenty of playspace crying out for guard-rails, and if anyone knows me, I'm guaranteed to fall off a map at least once.
We started strong with an early 4-0 lead, but Team Staffuchino, probably realizing that this was their last chance at beating us, gathered themselves and pulled off an amazing comeback, scoring five as we capped only one ourselves. After a quick bit of reorganization on Team Balboa's part, we proceeded to snuff out their rally with a 4 flag score. Even with Unusual Hiccup and FC Quicksilver slowing us down near the very end, we pulled out with the 10-8 victory, and our first victory against another site in over a year. Phew...
Final Score
Team Balboa - 10
Team Staffuchino - 8
Game 5 and 6
In Your Base on Stealin Your Flags and YUM YUM on NOM NOM
With the tough part behind us, we decided to have some fun and lighten the mood with some Stealin Your Flags first. Apparently Forge Cafe still had a bit of a chip on their shoulders however, destroying us in Stealin Your Flags, but in NOM NOM we managed to edge out a narrow victory.
Final Scores
Team Staffuchino - 12
Team Balboa - 7
Team Balboa - 14
Team Staffuchino - 12
Forge Cafe has put together a recap video of the festivities!
Forge Cafè Vs Forge Hub - YouTube
All that's left to say is a hearty "Good Game" to Forge Cafe. Next time we meet in the ring you'll be the underdogs! Thank you to under zid for organizing this with me and the staff, thanks to the staff and community members for taking the time out to participate, and thanks to all of Forge Hub's members for making Sunday Night Fights such a special and unique event.
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