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Chapter 210: Rivalry [2]

Chapter 210: Rivalry [2]

Matchday 8 of the English Pro Alliance rolled in town, and yet the millions of Warstar fans in love with the English Pro Alliance did not pay attention to all of it, rather narrowing their attention to the clashes across the top 4 rival clubs.

Matchday 8 was spread through 3 days, a few games scheduled for each day of the matchday. The English Pro Alliance cleverly spread the game of the top 4 clubs between the 3 days, and for each day, either Phoenix Rising, Scarlet Rose, Echelon, or Cyber Squad were chosen as the main event to be broadcasted.

Day 1...

[Exo Genesis vs Phoenix Rising]

On the first day of the matchday, the clash between Phoenix Rising and Exo Genesis was the focus because it qualified as a top of the table encounter.

It qualified not because Exo Genesis was a club on par with Phoenix Rising, but simply because one of the four clubs in the 4-peat title race this season would be taking to the arena.

Besides, it was an Exo Genesis home game.

In the English Pro Alliance, clubs have different levels. The newly promoted clubs were at the bottom of the pile, then the deep foundation teams that were veterans of the English Pro Alliance like Cerberus Core, bonafide mid-table team.

The 3rd level is taken up by clubs like Juggernaut and Steel Dominion, clubs that were veterans of the English Pro Alliance like Cerberus Core but actually challenged for the top 6 playoff spot every season.

And the final level is the top level, the elite level occupied by clubs like Phoenix Rising, Scarlet Rose and the likes.

The betting sites associated with Warstar dictate their betting odds using algorithms generated by the level each club is located in the 4-scale ranking.

And yet, everything was not set in stone.

It was not set in stone that a top team would win every time that they met a team lower in the ranking.

Warstar was a sophisticated game filled with lots of nuances. Skill is the core selling trait of the game, just like football and in a video game so skill-based, just like football psychological factors like momentum and pressure could affect a game.

The psychological factors that affect games? Just like in football, home advantage when playing in your home stadium played a big role.

The bottom table teams sometimes fight to famous victories against bigger teams in the English Pro Alliance.

This kept the league competitive, and it also fueled the business of the betting companies, making the game unpredictable and interesting.

And yet, Phoenix Rising didn’t falter when they visited their opponents in Bradford, the city in Yorkshire, England.

Exo Genesis fans gave the reigning champions of the English Pro Alliance a sufficiently hostile welcome, and they sustained the hostility throughout the game, inducing noise so loud it could rattle bones.

And yet, it was not enough to rattle Phoenix Risings’ nerves.

At the end after an hour and a few minutes...

---<VICTORY>---

[Exo Genesis: 3 points]

[Phoenix Rising: 7 points]

Phoenix Rising won convincingly in enemy ground.

Dain Ironvalor started the battle strong, winning the first individual battle and snatching the momentum away from the home side.

Phoenix Rising won the second individual battle too, securing 2 points early and yet in the final individual battle, Exo Genesis did the impossible, rescuing a point in the boisterous atmosphere created by their fans.

That single victory created the switch in momentum, a shift in energy.

Exo Genesis went on to create an upset in the 3 vs 3 battle rush, riding the rush of energy from their sole individual battle win to snatch a narrow victory in the 3 vs 3 battle rush after a legendary performance for their team captain who played last in the battle rush.

They got 3 points in total from the heroic run of form, but it came to an end in the team battle when they faced Phoenix Rising’s core.

They dared to dream, but they didn’t achieve their core goal.

Phoenix Rising crushed them with sheer skill in the team battle, winning convincingly to steal 3 points away from their stadium.

2 other games were played on the first day of the matchday, one of them ending in a draw while the other ending in a narrow 4-6 score line.

And then...

Day 2.

This time, the clash between Club Echelon and Stormborn Esports was the main event of the English Pro Alliance.

Around 7:00pm in London, the Stanford Bridge bore witness to another exciting game in this season’s league campaign.

Club Echelon welcomed Stormborn Esports to their hired stadium in London. Like butchers, Echelon lured their opponents into their stadium, locked them in, and gave them the beating of their life.

After the tough battle against Juggernaut in the previous matchday, Noah made the decision to switch it up a bit this time.

And it led to a rout.

Like usual, he was the anchor man in the individual battle round, taking on his opponent and wiping the floor with him.

And then, instead of Aria taking the stage next like usual, Jeff, Echelon’s Combat Mage controller took the stage.

Having been taking consistent lessons from the most accomplished Combat Mage controller in the history of the game for months already, Jeff didn’t disappoint. When he got his chance to shine, he seized the moment with an iron fist.

He gave the tens of thousands of Echelon fans at the Stanford Bridge a show, entertaining them with how brutally he fought.

And yes, he did remind them of a certain Battle God.

Echelon won the second individual battle.

And then, Caleb came out last for the team like usual. His opponent was a difficult one as he fought with the enemy’s veteran vice-captain.

Caleb dominated though, for a time till he was caught off-guard by a clever strategy his opponent used to take advantage of the terrain.

Caleb’s calculation didn’t fail, he just never realized the full factors in play to factor them into his calculations.

And so, in a damning moment of realization, he lost. By the time he realized, it was already too late to change it.

That was the only point that Stormborn Esports got in the game.

In the 3 vs 3 battle rush, Noah took another drastic decision that spooked Stormborn Esports, throwing all their prepared plans in disarray.

Aria didn’t play in the individual battle round for the first time this season, and so they all expected her to anchor the 3 vs 3 battle rush. But that was not the case, instead, Noah anchored the 3 vs 3 battle rush after just anchoring the individual battle round.

Stormborn Esports trained and prepared to fight a Blademaster, not a Combat Mage with a unique skill and weapon that could switch forms and help him fight as multiple classes in one.

Noah put out an all-time classic performance at the Bridge.

He completed his first 3v1 of the season, using Aetherforge to its full potential as he went on a rampage, tearing through one Avatar after the other till none was left standing.

Till on him... till only Lord Doom was left standing.

---<VICTORY>---

Only after the victory screen did Noah grin behind his monitor. ’Got you’.

By then, his fingers were already aching, but this feeling... the feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins in the professional stage, he missed it.

’It was worth it’. He concluded.

He didn’t join the team battle.

Once again, Echelon shocked their opponents on viewers with their radical strategy that excluded their captain, giving all the power to Aria’s Reckless Storm.

In the team battle... the Reckless Storm caused a storm.

Aria led the team to a perfect victory in the team battle in Noah’s absence. And just like that, they secured a memorable 9-1 victory against their opponents, taking their tally for the season to 24 points alongside Phoenix Rising.

...

Day 3...

The main event of Day 3 of the matchday was the top of the table clash between Scarlet Rose and Cyber Squad.

It was not just the main event of Day 3, but the main event of the whole matchday. After the clash between Echelon and Cyber Squad a few weeks ago, cementing the top 4 rivalry, Warstar fan have anticipated when the next top 4 clash would be and now, it was here.

It was a Scarlet Rose game.

Caster and his team traveled to Leeds where Scarlet Rose fans gave them a hostile welcome befitting a worthy rival.

Thousands of fans manned the side of the road when the Cyber Squad bus rolled into town, waving banners of Crimson Saint, singing their club songs and booing the Cyber Squad players.

There was an especially big banner depicting Stinger of War impaled on the chest by Crimson Saint’s knight sword.

Dozens of fans unfurled the gigantic banner, holding it from on top the bridge under which the Cyber Squad bus drove through before entering the stadium.

The fire of a top of the table clash was already ignited.