2
When I first found out about this tournament I had no intention of taking part. I knew it would be a grind fest, which isn't exactly an evaluation of skill, and this didn't sit well with me. My thought was, whoever played the most would win. However, after speaking with Kataris, we decided to make a run at it. He was going for the top on lights. At this point, I had no clue what I was doing, or what I wanted to do. Do I push for a specific class or the overall title? I hadn't decided. Also, the time was around 630pm EST on Friday and the tournament started at 1pm EST. Ugh, I was already 5.5 hours behind, could I really make that up?
I started in mediums, again I had absolutely no plan in place. I started off horribly, my elo was absolutely killing me. I simply could not buy a win, but the grind was on. We had a small group of guys talking all teamspeak, all hitting the grind. One of these people as Avalios, a friend and teammate of mine in Paragon. He was rocketing up the overall, and he laid out his plan to me. Avalios pushed himself to the overall number one spot. That's when I made my decision, I'm going for the overall.
I played medium until I reached the top 200. I got all the way to 160ish, and I still had a losing record in mediums. I was completely beside myself on the teams I was getting. Every drop was fighting uphill, and always seemed to devolve into 2v6, 1v5, 2v7, or something of the sort. It was horrible, and I was ready to quit. Kataris spurred me on, and on we went.
Broceratops said:
I was gaining on Snailio slowly because he had been up 60 hours and I was pretty fresh since I had slept. I was in a zen state at this point from playing 40+ hours of the MWO. I was shooting jenners out of the air with SRMs, headshotting Atlai - it was amazing. And yes I was pretty much just charging them at this point, but did I feel like a hero killing as much as I did and lasting as long as I did (most games anyway ).
Bro speaks of his zen state and run... that was my saturday. For 12 hours I was hammering it, just unbelievable. I simply could not lose. I'd guess I averaged 700 damage and 3-4 kills every match for 12 hours straight. It was just unreal. No matter what mech I got in, it was absolute gold. Nothing could touch me. But in the back of my mind, I knew the wall was coming. Elo was going to get me, and there was nothing I could do about it. During my amazing stretch, Kataris was in a horrible slump. Elo had gotten him almost all day Saturday. He couldn't buy a win, and he was banging his head against the wall. I knew mine was coming, I just didn't know when....
Saturday evening, I pushed it all the way... I was reeling in the top spot at a tremendous speed. I finally made it, over 24 hours after beginning my journey. Number one overall. Throughout the event, up until this time, I had seen several people climb to that spot, and all had fallen back down. I was entrenched, and I was giving it up easy. I began to pull away, eventually opening up a 120 point lead. Each time a challenger would rise, and begin to close, I'd charge harder, beating them back. At this point, Kataris and I knew Broceratops had been in the running for the assault class, and then we spotted him in a light. That's when we knew something was up, we knew he was secretly planning a run at the top.
Into Sunday morning I maintained my lead. I couldn't think clearly, I couldn't remember what I was doing. I'd get lost on maps, not knowing where I was at. My mind began to wander off in places that I didn't know existed. I couldn't talk, I couldn't focus. I couldn't believe I was doing this. Samurai, another Paragon teammate, began to follow the stats. He was logging all of the overall leader information for the last 24 hours of the tournament. Letting me know at each 15 minute split if I was gaining or losing points.
Sunday afternoon I was a zombie. I can barely remember anything from the last 12 hours of the tournament. I was pushing myself to the end, and the only thing carrying me was will, determination, and a strong group of teammates to push me on. We knew Broceratops would make a charge, we just did not know when. My mind couldn't comprehend it at this point anyway, so I continued to trudge on.
Late into Sunday evening my luck turned. Where my Saturday was unbelievably positive, my Sunday evening was horrendous. The last five hours of the tournament, between 1000pm EST until 3am EST, I could not buy a win. Between sleep deprivation and elo catching me, I was back to continously losing. This time, I didn't have the ability to overcome it. I wasn't pulling in the damage, and I couldn't maintain my performance. Lack of sleep and elo were killing me. Broceratops was charging hard, and I was getting lost in my own mind. I was beginning to forget to hit the launch button, or forget to leave a match. I was catching myself thinking I was still playing, even after being killed and being in spectator mode. Wasting time I could not afford to waste. My mind was officially gone, and I was only performing on instinct. With sleep and elo not on my side, my tournament ended in a hellacious losing streak. I probably lost 25 of the last 30 drops.
My thoughts: Due to starting 5.5 hours behind the field, I felt there was no way I could win if I slept. Grind fests and sleep do not match. When I began 6:30pm EST, I did not stop dropping. If I had to do something, it was done in the time between hitting launch and starting the battle. Bathroom, shower, food, walking, bicep curls, etc, everything was done in 30-60 second intervals. I did not take a single break. I felt I could not afford to give up one drop. As close as the top of the overall standings were, I think this largely proved to be true. I am glad I took part in the tournament, and while second place is bittersweet, it was a great experience. Thank you to PGI for putting it on (although I hope future tournaments are more skill based), and thank you to my friends in Paragon and Jade Wolves for all of their support.
I really enjoyed comparing your perspective compared to Bro's. Two madmen with different points of view. Number 2 is always bittersweet, but what you guys at the top did was truly monumental...be proud, you deserve it!
