Groups are tighter than ever. Match ties all over the place. Each game matters. The next few weeks will separate the contenders from the pretenders. Let’s get into the action.
Drama in Division 1 - Is there now a friendly but not very friendly rivalry between Hippie and Zxcvster brewing?! A contentious and well fought match took place over the weekend. In addition to the high level Warno play there were accusations of cheating & coaching, insults thrown at family & friends, and a general sense of malaise. As long as these two nemeses can maintain a level of respectful decorum then let the rivalry begin! (You know Protoss will ban you if anyone gets out of line! You have been warned!)
In Division 2, Adler won with 1 Tankova! I know I harp on this division a lot but many believed it was the strongest to come out of SouthAg. Maybe now it will start gaining momentum. Adler also leaves jokes in his replays using a ping and some text. Some of the jokes aren’t great but I still laugh regardless. Adler’s matchup was against 8th US which as the game progressed on Kreide, they outbuilt. 8th’s M60s are outgunned so early by T-72s but they are needed to stem the early game of the T-55s. Hard balancing act for 8th US right now. In Game 2, et_be took a commanding lead using Canada’s speedy recon deployment in addition to some awkward CV management by Adler. This led to a 34 minute artillery grindfest with Adler’s 2nd panzer needing their two Tornado IDS bombers to wreak havoc on numerous bombing runs. Eventually the more numerous tanks and a timely late game flank led to Adler's 2nd panzer victory.
Also in Division 2 was a matchup between Novamir’s 152e vs Pbatt’s 79 ya. All you need to do is watch the first 3 minutes to figure out how 152e was able to pull victory out of that cluster.
For an even easier watch, check out Division 2’s SnowWolfe vs Tofuk in their battle on Vertigo. The game lasts a mere 1 minute and 57 seconds and you can feel the frustration of Tofuk through the screen. Tough game.
In watching so many games over the past few weeks I would be remiss not to mention a new meta is developing on the map Kreide. It seems that the battle for the “lowest” zone, Bravo, is still extremely important. But what we are seeing is a new focus on attacking BETWEEN Foxtrot/Delta and Charlie. The Red side has great road access to attack Charlie from the side and Blue has great access into Echo using that same road. For example, in their game vs Nocturna, Tman utilized this tactic pushing through to Echo from the Blue side. Interesting to see how this map’s meta will develop. It is one of the most played battlefields.
For many months Warno tier lists have been created, debated and shared. One can be argued to be just as effective as the next. Until now. May I present to you the scientifically proven official Warno Dispatch tier list. By awarding points to banned divisions and then awarding points for wins, losses, and draws a quantifiable tier list has been created. It can be found HERE, and no debate can change how informative and perfect it is. Special thanks to Hippie, Beowulf, and HrcAk47.
Fantasy is updated; the current leader is Sequoia with a whopping 342 points. 2nd and 3rd, Mike/Chips and meddinator, respectively, are right on their tail. And if you think the SDL admins are good at this whole Warno thing, 3 of the bottom 4 in fantasy work behind the scenes at SDL. Kudos to Ben Dover who is making sure we still retain some of our respect.
If you have an interesting ranked game of Warno that you would like to share, now is your chance! Please send your replay and a short description to Warno.Dispatch@gmail.com to be considered for this space each week.
As of posting this article, Group A in Division 2 has played 10 matches;
one Win, one Loss, and eight Draws.
This may be the closest group in SDL history at this point of the season. Next week, we do a deep dive into Division 4. Analyze your replays, discover hidden meta gems, and be sure to turn off the fuel on your supply trucks because we are hitting do or die time in SDL Warno Season 5.