Beyond Virginity vs ISK Six

Finals - Saturday 19th September - 20:00

ISK Six Blown Away by Beyond Virginity

Reported by: Clarity Brown

Beyond Virginity [BYVI] claimed a fast and fierce victory over ISK Six, losing only a Rook and a Dominix in the process. Not what you would call a good rate of returns for ISK Six.

If CONCORD had shown up to this match, there would have been a massacre with so many negative security standings in one place. The only CONCORD there, however, were your friendly, neighbourhood Interstellar Correspondents. Both teams were going with armour-tanking fleets, both had a single Rook as their only overt electronic warfare, both had an Oneiros for repairs and energy neutralizing power - from a Curse for BYVI and from a Blood Raider Bhaalgorn battleship for ISKVI. The key difference between the two teams was that BYVI leaned slightly more on drones for their fire-power, while ISKVI trusted to turrets - high-damage, face-melting blasters and the keen tracking of lasers. ISKVI therefore set up close to the arena beacon with their Rook and Oneiros staying well-back and separate. BYVI gave themselves a little space to protect their drones by sitting back at range, with the Oneiros and Rook hidden at the back of their little cluster.

The match kicked off with BYVI swinging round the ISKVI fleet in a flanking maneuver, falling into a position where they could cut the ISK Six fleet in two and kill its support if ISKVI tried to close and engage. The BYVI team released its drones, sending a flight of Hornet EC-300s to jam the Rook and Oneiros on the other side; Tai Paktu went with the drones in his Ishkur and scrambled Ran Echelon in the ISK Six Rook, covering it in Hobgoblin IIs. Crazy Tasty, also in an Ishkur for BYVI, zoomed in to join his team-mate. Meanwhile, the BYVI Dominixes had closed with four of the ISKVI battleships - two Dominixes, a Megathron and the notorious Bhaalgorn. Another key difference between the two fleets became visible as Sir Demise and Skraeling Shortbus, BYVI's Dominix pilots, poured Berserker IIs onto their opponents while sitting close enough to the ISK Six sentry swarm as to trouble their tracking.

Caught between two Ishkurs and their deadly little blaster-drones, Ran Echelon of ISKVI took the only feasible action and exploded, leaving his team without any overt electric warfare. He was followed 7 seconds later by Cyrdax, one of the ISKVI Dominix pilots - the loss of the sentry drones he commanded at this early stage would be a deep injury to his team's potential damage-per-second for the rest of the round. Sir Demise, however, was taking heavy damage from the surviving ISKVI Dominix, Megathron and being neutralized by their Bhaalgorn - his death was the price his team paid for the damage they'd managed to do.

In spite of some truly sterling efforts in the field of evasive maneuvers from GodofHELL, he'd been unable to shake the jamming Hornet EC-300s from his Oneiros, and now Tai Paktu descended on him just as he had on the Rook earlier. With backup from Tor Lann's Coercer and Vladimer's Curse, as well as Crazy Tasty's Ishkur, the BYVI team tore into GodofHELL, swiftly dispatching his logistic ship and leaving the ISK Six team effectively naked - no logistics, no jamming, facing the prospect of having to out-DPS the BYVI team's local and remote repairs while being jammed by Juan Ignacio's Rook.

Isk Six made their prospects slightly better only moments later when Scyptnex Minor's sentry drones got a good line on the BYVI Rook and sent Juan Ignacio for a spacewalk. Meanwhile, the two teams started to flow together, battleship against battleship in a furious scrum. Scyptnex Minor put up a ferocious fight but he was standing between a group of professional pirates and a faction battleship and they tore his Dominix apart to get to it.

Admiral Dovolski of ISKVI in his Bhaalgorn, and Sniper699 in his Megathron were left facing a Dominix, an Absolution, a Curse, two Ishkurs and a Coercer. The knot in the centre of the arena became tighter, with only Villwrath's Oneiros and Vladimer's Curse holding much range from it. Sniper699 found himself the primary target, the Megathron not able to hold up long against that sort of incoming damage, nor able to give much back in the short time it had. Then BYVI were all alone with Admiral Dovolski's Bhaalgorn. Oslo, BYVI's Absolution pilot, closed on the big, golden ship, scrambling it less from necessity, it seemed - the Bhaalgorn is not noted for its swiftness - and more as a declaration of supremacy, a way of enjoying the chance to make this kill perfect, exactly by the numbers, the way it ought to be. Everything fired on the Bhaalgorn, tearing it apart in seconds.

Beyond Virginity walk forward from this match with a stunning victory behind them and Ushra'Khan, tomorrow at 17:00, ahead.