Axie Infinity celebrated the return of competitive esports after E1337 successfully concluded the first third-party tournament [21-22 August 2021] on the newly launched Axie Esports server. The battles function on the game was paused due to a sudden exponential influx of new players in July that affected server stability. Anticipation shot through the roof when Andrew Zyori, Program Lead for Esports and Content Creators at Sky Mavis first teased the launching of a dedicated Esports server for Axie Infinity.
Lunacians welcomed the announcement of 31 tournaments planned for Q3-Q4 2021 offering a whooping prize pool of 5560 $AXS (~400,000 USD at current prices). Demand and excitement for Axie esports was clearly seen as players signed up for the tournament in droves, leaving a long waiting list of hopefuls who did not manage to secure a spot. 128 contestants from all across Lunacia duked it out in an action-packed weekend with its fair share of laughs provided by Chief aka ‘Salt Axie Bae’ and Ax aka (jpeg)‘Peggy’ who commentated on the matches (watch the replays Day 1 & Day 2 to enjoy the matchups and find out what the laughs were about).
Semifinals
Elijah steamrolled over Polaco in game 1, consistently hammering home well-calculated blows to go one up. Polaco responded with a point of his own in game 2. Unfazed by a surprise crit from Elijah in round 4, he controlled the end game to level the score. Games 3 and 4 were entertaining and exciting with big brain moves and steady counters, showcasing what top-tier arena matches look like at their finest. (Those matches were so good they deserve their own articles!) Elijah took the 3rd game and Polaco took the fourth to force a tie-breaking fifth game. The stream glitched a little in the 5th game and before you knew it, Polaco’s frontliner was dead and Elijah’s tank’s life reduced to one-third from full health. Though Polaco clawed back and put up a good fight, whatever happened in round 1 seemed to have set the momentum for the whole game. It was Elijah who prevailed, crushing Polaco’s backliner with a potent [twice repeated] double talk eggshell combo, bypassing the high shield Polaco’s full health backliner put up to advance 3-2 into the finals.
The heartbreak of the tournament came when dark horse Azarian knocked crowd favorite Indes out in the semis 3-1 with a combination of good team predictions, smart steady plays and surprise crits. Some well-timed cattails in game 1 helped Azarian surge forward to lead the game, causing Indes to surrender in round 6. In the second game, Indes showed us why he sits on the pinnacle of Axie PvP, carving out a win using his plant double aqua team to crush Azarian’s double reptile-dusk team. Game 3 saw Indes being pipped to the post by Azarian's clever poison play. Azarian led 2-1 at that point of the matchup. Though Indes looked like he was in the driver’s seat in game 4, a game-changing surprise crit fired out from Azarian took out Indes’s backline aqua with a shrimp-double angry lam combo. That snuffed out any chance of a tie-breaking game 5 for Indes.
The situation caused quite a stir, with many disgruntled fans firing off comments in the chats. However, such is the reality of esports. When games are being played at the highest level, it can go either way. The crit from Azarian, coupled with the fact that Indes had already dropped two games meant that there was no room left for an Indes comeback. Credit must be given to Azarian for the scouting and research he did, as well as his strong and steady plays. He cleverly hid his hand and used almost the same Axies in the early rounds, only to pull out surprise team after surprise team in his match-up against Indes. His game plan paid off and he won the matchup fair and square.
Third Place Playoff
The 3rd place matchup ended quickly with Polaco skillfully using his hatsune backliner to shut Indes down in game 1. In game two, Polaco outmaneuvered Indes with his reptile backliner, clawing back from a 1 v 2 to bag the game, sealing the victory 2-0. Watching this matchup felt like watching a friendly between two teammates sparring off without pressure. Also, it almost seemed like they paid homage to each other in that matchup. Indes used a team he named ‘Almost polaco’ for both games and Polaco used a team he named 'wer yam', bringing to mind echoes of the characteristic quips that Indes often makes.
Finals
Azarian continued to surprise in the final matchup against Elijah, racing to an early lead and clinching the first two points. However, Elijah held himself together to whip up 3 straight victories in the final 3 games to seal his first victory in a tournament, sounding out the alarm that he has had enough of being among the top few players in recent seasons and is gunning for that #1 spot. Small but crucial plays like keeping his backliner buffed to keep the speed advantage and prevent the extra damage from thorny caterpillar went a long way for Elijah as Azarian made attempt after attempt to turn up the heat. Elijah's ballsy move in the third game, playing his tank with its life bleeding out to almost nothing due to poison, was a demonstration of the types of plays that separates the greats from the good, going all in or nothing to get himself out of a pickle. An exciting final delivered by both Elijah and Azarian. They kept us at the edge of our seats until the final game ended!
3 Takeaways
3 things take center stage for this PvP enthusiast while spectating the tournament.
#1 - Team composition, i.e. having the "best" axies, is not everything
Firstly, team composition is not the be all end all in Axie Infinity. This tournament showcased without a doubt that while team compositions are important and helpful in any match, mismatched teams are not a death sentence for the player at a disadvantage, even at the highest level of play. While he didn’t win the semis match up, Indes deserves praise for his skill and poise in taking the second game against a team that was heavily mismatched against him. That was a memorable match that proved to all of Lunacia that it is possible to win with the ‘wrong’ team if you know how to use it well. My money is still on Indes for the next tournament.
#2 - "Lucky" crits are a healthy part of the game
The second point I would like to make is that the presence of surprise crits underlines the fact that Axie Infinity is not a game that is designed to be dominated by the usual suspects all the time. Arena matches can go any way and there is always a chance for a dark horse to make his mark. Likewise, there is also always the opportunity for the favourite to turn the tide around when he is lagging behind. While Azarian received much flak from fans for the number of crits he doled out, one should remember that he was on the receiving end of a few of those game-changing crits in the final as well.
To reduce future heartache among Axie fans, the mechanics behind crits should be better explained so that its workings can be openly understood. Surprise crits that don't open up opportunities for the direction of the game to change are pointless and serve no real purpose other than provide a spectacle. On the other hand, game-changing crits that give the player an opportunity to turn the tide around are a healthy part of arena matches, they should not be removed. Some tweaking might be helpful if these crits are completely random, but a crit with a certain degree of randomness tied to an Axie’s stats is certainly an element that adds spice to matches. Full disclosure: I was rooting for Indes all the way, but Azarian outplayed Indes when it mattered in games 1 and 3. He definitely played well and bagged a respectable victory.
#3 - Axie Infinity arena gameplay is super complex
Thirdly, this tournament was a stage to showcase the complexity involved in Axie Infinity esports and PVP matches: team scouting, team selection, predicting your opponent’s team, energy counting and manipulation, card counting and manipulation, beautiful combos, big brain math, ballsy plays while in a pickle, consistency and composure etc. All these need to be in operation at the same time for someone to take home the win. Anyone who says that Axie Infinity is pay-to-win should spectate future tournaments to see firsthand the complexity and depth of the game at the highest levels of play. Better than a good game of poker!
Finally.. A 4th bonus point on a lighter note..
Polaco ROCKS!!! 🔥🔥🔥
Wonderful plays were of course very appreciated and provided lots of entertainment and surprises. A huge shoutout to the maestro Polaco, who was the man who stole the show with his amazing, entertaining, head scratching, unexpected, surprising [I can't find enough adjectives!!!] big brain moves. He also unveiled to all Lunacia an interesting hatsune backline plant counter to a backline gravel ant, which he masterfully used to win a 1 v 2 playoff in one of his matches. He didn’t win the tournament but he certainly won many fans who are waiting to see his streams. Hopefully, fans will see more of that soon, given his recent announcement that he quit his job to focus on Axie full time.
Once again, HUGE congratulations to Elijah for taking the crown! Also, hats off to Azarian, Polaco, Indes and many others who provided an entertaining weekend for Axie fans. Thank you Chief and Ax for commentating and thank you E1337 for hosting the tournament, was a smashing success!
Next tournament on Brute's Radar: Yield Guild Open @ Aug 28-29 (Team competition!!)
*This author wonders, in terms of team selection, whether there was a cap on the number of Axies that a competitor could register to use for the tournament. If not, future tournament organisers should put one in place to level the playing field and up the stakes, forcing competitors to think and play creatively with the limited Axies that they registered with.
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