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    CA vs. OF, 5 on 5 on Coret Facility, one game on a neutral server (theirs), Official OGL Match

    The game started off with a 3 man CA rush, meeting at the quad, which Darkmage grabbed, and fighting our way into the base.  OF had elected to start off with all hands on defense aparently so as not to fall victim to a quick rush and to feel out our offense and react accordingly.  They kept this up for the first five minutes of the game, during which time we weren't allowed any caps and our defense was very bored.  Five minutes into the game, however, OF started playing the offensive game, and in a way we'd never seen before.  Apparently they had the respawn time on the damage amp timed to perfection, and seconds before it was due to respawn four attackers would stream out the front door, lead usually by Scooby.  Fortunately for our defense, this well-coordinated assault was usually met by our continuous offense stream and at least broken up, and a few times completely destroyed.  The first cap of the game came when T-Toe and Darkmage made it into
the enemy base more or less untouched.  T-toe grabbed the flag and fought his way out, eliminating OF's last chance of intercepting him with a lucky rocket spam towards the rocket launcher for a double kill.  Another cap of a similar fashion followed fairly quickly.  Our third cap was more dramatic.  T-Toe dropped it just outside our base, but luckilly Darkmage was there to snag it before it could be returned.  He held it for just a few seconds, however, before it was dropped again.  Corrosion was the next to snag it and he was the last, bravely fighting his way backwards to score one for the defense. At this point OF realized they had some ground to make up and increased their offensive effort.  We'd had a few close calls up to this point, and this extra offensive effort was tough to hold off.  About 20 minutes into the game three OF members fought their way into our base and penetrated to the flag room.  RealDeal grabbed the flag and ran out through the main downstairs hallway.  Corrosion and Darkwulf were there to intercept and managed to down the flag carrier.  Before we could return the flag Scooby picked it up and fought his way out of the base.  That was the last we saw of that one and the game was 3 to 1.  Undeterred, we stuck with what was working and managed two more caps before the game ended.  Final Score: CA 5, OF 1.

Screenshot: Game One

    CA vs. MsR, 5 on 5 on Lava Giant, one game on a neutral server (ours), Official OGL Match

    This was the second game in a row where we played red on Lava Giant against an offensively-oriented team which relied heavilly on meeting at the rocket launcher.  Again, this tendency clashed with our strategy, which dictated that we control the rocket launcher area.  The game started off chaotic but in our favor.  Darkwulf held MsR's initial offense at the rocket launcher, going on a rampage in the process.  T-Toe and Bornslinky executed some perfectly coordinated "distract and grab" plays that were very productive in the first few minutes.  Despite Darkwulf's success at the RL, Kliff_dor and Corrosion were being constantly inundated by attackers at the red base.  Offense established a steady rhythm and brought in several caps before our first close call, making it look easy while Darkwulf and the defenders (sounds like an 80's lounge/metal band) held off the hoards of persuers that they would drag back with them.  MsR had several near-caps, one of which was ended by a close range redeemer in the blue base when the red flag was a fraction of a second away from being capped.  Finally their blitzkrieg offense paid off when MsJuked made the long run through the trenches back to the blue base, aided by some nice sniping that cleared the way at the rocket launcher.  This positive turn seemed to breathe new life into the MsR offense and the CA defense was further strained.  Our offense never let up though, and had picked up several more caps.  The final action was a vengeful [MsR]Guybrush ruthlessly nuking Darkwulf as he heroicly held his position until the end. :)   The game felt a lot closer than the score would indicate due to the 3-main offense MsR used and their constant-pressure tactics.  Final Score: CA 15, MsR 1.  After the official game we decided to play another game just for fun and practice.  CA put in an almost completely different squad to spread the experience around.  Apparently the people in MsR learn pretty qucikly, because the second game ended up a lot closer!  Final Score: CA 5, MsR 3.

Screenshots: Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. DJ, 6 on 6 on Lava Giant, one game each on the east and west coast, Official OGL Match

    Having just moved up the ladder from our last game and unable to challenge ourselves, we were challenged for the 32nd spot by the up-and-coming, undefeated Drunk Jedi.  We agreed to play two rounds, one on the east coast and one on the west coast.  The first game was on the west server, so we compensated for our ping disadvantage by playing tighter defense, holding T-Toe back as a utility player and sending Bornslinky and Messiah at the flag.  DJ had picked blue, and we soon found out why: They had their blue base defense nearly perfected, and while we had relatively little trouble touching the flag getting out of the base proved to be a problem.  The DJ offense relied extensively on funneling through the rocket launcher area and meeting there to form up attacks.  This provided a very busy day for Darkwulf.  The action was so intense that we were forced to move T-Toe up to support at the rocket launcher part time.  Even with two players it was difficult to hold for any length of time with a ping disadvantage and a non-stop rush of offense coming through.  Nevertheless our presence there stopped some runs cold and disrupted many more, making the position ultimately worthwhile.  DJ eventually capped first, a little less than halfway through the game after both teams had touched the flag many times and more than a few close calls.  One near cap for our opposition was stopped within seconds of their base by a (lucky?) shock rifle blast by Corrosion (What was he doing way over there?!).  Our offense's persistance paid off shortly after the DJ cap when Messiah brought a flag back up the shield belt ridge, still gunning down his persuers within sight of our base.  Many more near caps followed on either side, but there were no more points scored in regulation time.  We played a short 2 minute overtime period out that ended in victory for us, but under OGL rules overtimes are not played, so the final score for the first round stood at: CA 1, DJ 1, with CA ahead by a very slim margin in frags (the tie-breaking criteria).  For the second round we moved to Sword's UT server, on the east coast.  Predictably lag conditions were a bit better for us, a bit worse for them.  We started this game with a prototypical 5 man rush, leaving T-Toe all alone to cover the flag.  Unfortunately our opponents had the same idea and our rushes met in the middle and mostly canceled each other out.  A few DJ stragglers made it to our base and were dealt with somehow, while Messiah and Darkwulf were the only CA's to reach the blue base.  Messiah grabbed the flag and was double-shotted within seconds, Darkwulf scored a double kill with the nuke he picked up on the way in, grabbed the flag and was still double-shotted within seconds.  So ended our initial rush.  Messiah didn't give up though, and a few minutes after this disheartening beginning he was bringing back a blue flag.  This game proved to be the ultimate validation of our Lava Giant strategy, at least against the tactics we were faced with.  With a better ping Darkwulf was able to effectively block the rocket launcher area most of the time and was in a position to support our flag runners as well.  Our second cap came when Messiah jumped out of the blue base and Darkwulf was there to support, killing 5 would-be persuers before finally sucumbing to the frenzied hoarde intent on chasing down their flag.  The effort wasn't wasted however, and Messiah made it back the shield belt ridge to the relative safety of the red plateau, protected by Kliff_Dor and Corrosion.  At this point our opponents realized that they needed to make up a 2 point defecit, and an already furious offense gained a new fervor.  T-Toe again helped out at the rocket launcher and Kliff_Dor and Corrosion absorbed the additional strain.  Bornslinky and Messiah got us another cap by the end of the 20 minute round and our defense pulled through to preserve the shutout.  Final Score: CA 3, DJ 0.  In the end all players felt they'd played an incredibly intense game, and the guys from DJ were great sports, even through all the problem with servers.  We look forward to seeing them again further up the OGL ladder.

Screenshots: Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. =T=, 4 on 4 on Lava Giant, one game on a neutral server, Official OGL Match

    This was a hugely important match for our progress on the OGL ladder, having challenged for a spot that would put us within striking distance of the top 20, against a very experienced clan with a winning record.  T-toe and Bornslinky rushed immediately and Kliff_dor and Corrosion hung back and braced for the initial onslaught.  After wading through the opposing offense, one of which had grabbed the first amp, T-Toe made it out with our first cap, though it took a lot of support to get him back home.  Bornslinky brought back another cap in quick succession and the game was off to a good start.  Our lead was soon cut in half though when we totally lost track of a flag runner and he managed to pick his way through our advancing offense and back to his base.  We intensified our offensive effort, knowing we had to reinforce our lead and we needed to stick with what was working: non-stop pressure offense.  Soon Corrosion was joining the flag runs, leaving Kliff_dor to tend the base by himself, which he did admirably.  For our third cap even Kliff got into the offensive support business, taking care of one of  T-Toe's pursuers by neatly removing his head with a sniper rifle.  This prompted a grateful and still living T-Toe to announce over BattleCom: "Clayton, this cap's for you!!".  Trinity threw some curveballs at us, using hoarded nukes effectively and worrying our offense with a reverse-angle ridge sniper several times.  We countered eventually and came up with 5 more caps before the game ended with a long standoff.  Final Score: CA 7, Trinity-UDA 1.

Screenshot: Game One

    CA vs. 187, 4 on 4 on Facing Worlds and Coret Facility, two games on a neutral server, Official Teamplay Match

    We played our first match on the Teamplay ladder tonight.  Having been desperate to play after our long spring break we challenged as many teams as we could and when one got back to us the same day we set up to play that night.  After a longish hunt for a suitable server our opponents came up with one that seemed pretty good for everybody.  First game was on Face, which we'd never played as a clan before.  It showed, and the only reason the score was so close was Messiah's vast experience and skill on the map.  Jones was running offensive support while Kliff_dor and Darkwulf played defense.  We realized this was a mistake near the end of the match.  We really needed 3 people on offense instead.  The round went into overtime tied at 3, but overtime ended shortly with our opponents capping our flag with Kliff_dor's redeemer seconds away.    Final Score: CA 3, 187 4.  Second round was on Coret, now our favorite and normally best map.  A strange and unfortunate chain of events combined to make this round a disaster, however.  Bornslinky's computer barfed 5 minutes into the game, forcing him to go next door to Messiah's computer, cutting him off from our BattleCom communications and his roommate T-Toe.  What had formerly been a great server was now starting to show signs of flakiness and lag started to be an issue.  How much it was for our opponents was totally unknown.  Combine this with the fact that we'd never played 4 on 4 on Coret before and you have a recipe for disaster.  Offense wasn't even able to produce a cap and defense was overwhelmed for most of the game.  Final Score: CA 0, 187 6.

Screenshots: Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. DHI, 5 on 5 (for most of it) on November, one game on our server, Scrimmage

    Our intensely close OGL match with DHI left both teams with a lot of mutual respect, so when we decided we needed to work on our tactics on November they were the obvious choice for practice partners.  Besides, after our tough play schedule lately everybody on both sides wanted to kick back and relax with a no-pressure "just for fun" game.  DHI was even nice enough to play this one on our server, which put a few of their members at a distinct disadvantage, being from a long ways away from here.  The scrim was very informative for us, having never played a team game on November before, and DHI showed us some wild offensive tricks.  We feel a little more prepared now for our upcoming triple-header scrim with C1 the 9th, with one round on November.  Kudos in this game to Messiah for bringing home 2 of our 3 caps and assisting the 3rd, Darkmage for 1 cap and untiring offensive effort, and our much-harried defenders Jones and Kliff_dor for dealing admirably with DHI's mind-blowing offensive tricks.  Congrats to Squall for his balls-out effort to bring back DHI's cap for the game, if he only knew how close T-Toe was to returning it he'd be even prouder. :)  Thanks to everyone on DHI for putting up with less-than-ideal lag conditions and showing us some cool moves.  Looking forward to our next game!  Final Score: CA 3, DHI 1 (not that it matters)

No Screenshot

    CA vs. UUW, 5 on 5 on Coret Facility, one game on a neutral server (ours), Official OGL Match

    The psychological effects of this game, rather we won or lost, were going to be enormous.  The situation was the same as the white-knuckled loss to DHI the previous week: One round on Coret against a clan of recognized skill.  We needed the win this time to hold our position and to get back our confidence after our first OGL loss.  The game plan was modified again based on the wealth of experience we've acquired on Coret in the past few weeks.  Defense was mostly unmodified but for a provision for sweeping out enemy flag runners after the base was sealed, which was put to an extreme test against UUW.  Realizing there is really no value to holding the midfield on Coret, we shifted our midfielder to full-on offense.  As usual, we planned on an all-out bum-rush for our first move.  Even this fell apart though, as UUW beat us to the first quad and we had our hands full just holding off their initial explosive rush.  Darkwulf had to stay behind to help deal with the Amp and rush, which nonetheless resulted in a flag touch for UUW.  Our new seal and sweep reaction plan paid off though, and we managed to return our flag just as bornslinky was coming in the door with our first cap.  What happened next was mind-boggling.  Somehow IronHeart, UUW's translocator ace, managed to get into our flag room without encountering a single CA defender.  What's more, circumstances conspired to insure that he wouldn't even see anybody on the way out of the base either, missing Corrosion's patrol in the main hall by a split second and walking right out the front door completely unmolested.  Impressed that we were facing extremely wily opponents, we redoubled our offensive efforts.  T-Toe and bornslinky used the lessons learned in our last OGL match and our subsequent practices well.  With Darkwulf providing offensive support (and 1 cap of his own) we brought back 6 more caps in the last 20 minutes of the game.  While our offense had an easier time of it this game our defense was challenged non-stop by UUW's hard charging offense.  UUW was easily the most offensively-oriented clan we've faced yet.  Corrosion and Kliff_dor did a great job of sealing up the base when the flag was touched while T-Toe and Darkwulf swept the flag room.  The UUW flag runners were tricky and liked to delay in the flag room while waiting for reinforcements to smash our perimeter, so our sweepers were constantly challenged by an enemy who was willing to fight instead of blindly running out with the flag.  Our system held, and despite a few close calls no UUW flag runner made it back to their base for the rest of the game, even though they had more flag touches than we did.  A great match-up between offensive squads and a lot closer than the score would indicate.  Final score: CA 7, UUW 1.

Screenshot: Game One

    CA vs. DHI, 6 on 6 on Coret Facility, one game on a neutral server, Official OGL Match

    This game was the tightest we've played on our entire history.  The match-up of skill between these two clans could hardly have been more even.  One round was played to decide it all, on C1's graciously loaned server, which provided good pings for all (well, except for that one DHI guy who was on a modem).  As soon as the game started 4 CA's were on their way to the Blue base in hopes of gaining the momentum of the game early.  We were first to the quad and Darkwulf grabbed it and killed 4 defenders before touching the flag.  The initial run was halted but the momentum was won, at least for a little while.  DHI played a very heavy defense for the first half of the game, and we continued with our 4 man assaults until it finally produced a very hard-won flag cap, with Messiah bringing the flag coast-to-coast, but having to go on a killing spree to do it, assisted by T-Toe who had to hold off 4 chasers in our flak room.  This is where the game started going downhill.  Despite calls to keep up the pressure and stick with what was working, we slackened off almost imperceptibly and played more defensively to hold our lead.  This worked for a while, but eventually the momentum shifted and our now 3 man offense was totally stymied by Jebediah's tough goal-tending.  Flag touches were no problem but our carriers were usually annihilated by a volley of rockets seconds after picking up the flag.  A sudden flurry of offense by DHI resulted in a flag cap about 20 minutes into the 30 minute game, seemingly out of nowhere.  It was now we realized the game was very much in jeopardy.  We could sit back and preserve the tie and try to win on score, or we could push hard and gain back the lead in caps.  In the end, we were successful in neither.  The game looked like a wrap with a minute and a half left with the score tied at 1 and CA barely but surely in the lead on frags.  A final desperate all-hands push by DHI succeeded in unbalancing our finely tuned defense, however, and after a confused string of 3 flag touches Orbis made it out with the flag in a truly heroic effort.  All-in-all, a very close game which could probably go either way if it were to be played again, and a valuable educational experience.  Though we thought we had our game on Coret down pretty well, we noticed a few offensive and defensive shortcomings that will need to be addressed before our next match.  Final Score: CA 1, DHI 2.

Screenshot: Game One

    CA vs. =cC=, 6 on 6 on Lava Giant, one on server one on theirs, Official OGL Match

    This match was fairly disappointing due to a number of factors.  We didn't get to play a real second round because the other team's server was having technical difficulties.  Not really a problem, what was more disappointing was our troubles with defense, even when the other team had 200+ pings.  The first round ended in a shutout, but only because our offense did a super-human job of taking their flag.  This game highlighted the need for more practice in communication with the whole team playing together, even if it will have to be against bots.  Big thanks to =cC= for being great sports through all the crap with the servers.  Hope to meet them again sometime, maybe on a neutral server.  Final score on the round that got played: CA 12, =cC= 0.

Screenshots: Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. N/A, 5 on 5 on Coret Facility, both games on our server, Official OGL Match

    By everyone's estimation, this was the best game we've played so far, in terms of challenge, learning, and outcome.  Since N/A is a west coast clan, the original plan was to play one game on each server, first on ours.  N/A held back and played HEAVY defense, trying to not lose by a lot on our server in anticipation of an advantage on their server.  Our first 3 man attack wave hit like a sledgehammer, however, and before either defense was really organized bornslinky was on his way out of the blue base with the flag.  After the first chaotic cap, the game settled into an uneasy equilibrium with N/A on heavy point defense at their flag and putting up only a token offense to keep us from committing the whole team to offense.  T-Toe, bornslinky, and Darkwulf continually hammered on the resilient N/A defense, at times controlling their upper hall for more than a minute.  Predictability became a handicap and our offense just couldn't make it out with the flag despite more than a few close calls.  Kliff_Dor and Corrosion played a solid defense, having learned a lot from our game against SA Monday.  There was one very close call when N/A got out with the flag, but luckily T-Toe was in an opportune position and came up with the interception.  Another big push near the end of the game led to one more CA cap, literally in the final seconds.  Final score for the first round: CA 2, N/A 0.  The second round almost was never played.  The N/A server was having SEVERE technical difficulties, and Azazel, the N/A captain, was ready to report a loss.  We convinced them to at least play another round on our server if only for fun.  We traded colors and N/A traded strategies, realizing they needed to overcome a 2 point deficit.  The added offensive effort put an additional, unbearable strain on the N/A defense.  Butcher and E_Mo_VegiBo (yes, that's his name, I don't know what it means) put up a brave effort in a stiff defense of the red flag, but with a ping disadvantage and the rest of their team on offense, they couldn't hold out forever.  Every cap was a close call though, and we even had one standoff that lasted for about 2 or 3 minutes.  T-Toe did a great job holding the flag on that one.  The increased N/A offense wasn't fruitless however, and they brought home one hard-won flag cap, and would have had another if Kliff_Dor's damage amplified rockets hadn't ended the standoff.  Final score for the second round: CA 5, N/A 1.

Screenshots: Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. SA, 5 on 5 on Coret Facility, one on our server one on theirs, Scrimmage

    We arranged this scrimmage against one of the top 5 UT CTF clans on the OGL ladder to get our tactics down on Coret Facility before we play our first OGL match on Coret the 23rd.  Both games were, to say the least, extremely informative.  The first game went our way, barely, but it did, probably thanks to a nice ping advantage on our server.  We started out with a prototype defense developed the night before, which pretty much consisted of Kliff_Dor and Homer guarding the doorway to the base at the front door and the rocket launcher, and Corrosion playing an aggressive midfield, camping the Advanced Damage as much as possible.  Jones and Darkmage ran offense.  The game was scoreless for a period of several minutes before the CA offense brought home the first flag, in the face of determined yet lagged defense.  Two more caps followed in fairly quick succession, aided by a few of Corrosion's epic runs with the Adv. Damage.  At this point, SA must have learned something because the momentum of the game shifted dramatically, and the CA offense was silenced for the rest of the game.  Corrosion was forced to fall back and play point defense on the flag and it took a whole-team effort to hold the furious SA rushes to just 2 caps in the remaining part of the game.  We theorize that our defense had just gotten too predictable.  Lesson learned, final score for the first round: CA 3, SA 2.  The second round was played on some server which was not ours, though I don't know if it was SA's either.  Regardless, it was laggier for us than our own server, but still very playable.  Apparently, it was very playable for SA, too.  Both teams switched up their lineups, CA substituted Scrotor and Messiah on offense in order to spread the valuable experience around.  The defensive plan, due to lack of time to come up with something better, stayed the same.  This game just went bad.  It's tough to pull out any distinct highlights, though several lowlights jump to mind.  Scrotor and Messiah were completely stymied in dealing with the renewed SA defense, but on the good side we learned several good defensive tricks.  Homer and Kliff_Dor didn't fare too much better on defense, as by this time SA had figured out exactly how to get around our once-solid defensive position.  Corrosion was stuck in the middle, to quote "I'm playing dead.  The only position I can play is dead."  Regardless, we got whupped on, but profited immensely by the experience.  Our lone cap came when Bornslinky jumped in for the last 5 minutes of play in place of a discouraged Messiah and led a heroic two-man sprint back with the flag, harried all the way by an SA defense determined to preserve the shutout.  Final score: CA 1, SA 7.

Screenshots: Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. ETF, 4 on 4 on The Last Command, one on our server one on theirs, Official OGL Match

    This game made us a little nervous, it being our first OGL match and playing with just 4 people, less than we'd ever played with before.  The initial plan was to leave Corrosion "The Minigun Man" [CA] on defense in the blue base while Bornslinky, T-Toe, and Darkwulf rushed the flag.  The first cap went off like a ballet: T-Toe and Darkwulf transported down the pipe, grabbed flak guns, armor, and the shield belt and rampaged in.  Meanwhile, Bornslinky grabbed a minigun and our damage amp and brought up the rear, meeting the other two at the flag room.  He grabbed it and the trio fought their way out.  Bornslinky was gunned down by an errant flak burst, so T-Toe picked up the flag.  When T-Toe fell then Darkwulf was there for the final leg of a dramatic 3-man flag relay.  The rest of the game was mostly more of the same, sometimes with a little less drama.  Highlights include Corrosion going "Godlike" and achieving a 98% efficiency for the game (!), Darkwulf racking up 86 kills, and T-Toe and Bornslinky combining for 36 flag touches.  Final score: CA 29, ETF 0.  The second game we switched colors and squads.  Kliff_Dor was in to defend the red base, partnered with Iceman.  Offense would be left to Jones and Darkmage.  This game got off to a slower start, but amazingly enough ended in the same score, with Darkmage and Jones running an incredible offense even though they were a man short of the first game's offense.  Red's easier access to the blue flag was undoubtedly a factor.  All the while, Iceman and Kliff_dor kept the red base clean of foreign matter admirably well. Final score: CA 29, ETF 0.

Screenshots: Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. tSc, 5 on 5 on Lava Giant, both games on our server, scrimmage.

    We took advantage of this informal scrimmage to try to get as many people as possible some experience.  Care Bear, Logstar, and Homer each made their debut in inter-clan competition in this game.  Despite having fielded a slightly less experienced squad, CA came out on top both rounds, final scores being 10 to 2 and 12 to 0.  Credit for the second-round shutout goes to the defensive team of Kliff_Dor and Homer.  Now veteran Darkmage played a solid midfield and supported the offense tremendously.

Screenshots:  Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. POK, 5 on 5 on The Last Command, one on our server one on theirs, scrimmage.

    First game: CA played red.  First of all, this was an INTENSE game.  Both offenses ran non-stop pressure for the full 30 minutes of the game.  The only reason this one ended in a shutout was due to a fantastic job by the CA offense in tracking down some flags that got away from the defense.  Kliff_Dor and Darkwulf could generally be counted on to keep the home front secure though, and the offense was freed to concentrate on bringing back the flag.  And they did, in a huge way.  Once again, Messiah put up an incredible effort leading the offense, but the real credit for all our 18 caps belongs to the whole team.  Though this was the most hectic game we've ever played, the team really came together and made plays.  One cap actually involved 3 different flag runners!  Final score 18 to 0, CA.  For the second game we moved to the POK server just down the backbone in Delaware.  Since this was just a scrimmage, both teams put in their B squads for the second game.  Not about to underestimate our opposition, we kept in the A team on defense though, bringing in mini-gun expert Corrosion in place of our Red base defense God Kliff_Dor.  Darkwulf continued to anchor the forward defense.    In their first organized game, Darkmage, Jones, and Iceman put up a great offensive effort against a stiffened POK defense.  Though we picked up just 4 caps this game our offense did a great job dominating the map as far forward as the red flak room.  Final score 4 to 0, CA.  In all we got a lot of great experience in this one, learned a lot and got to try out a lot of experimental tactics.  The guys (and girls maybe?) from POK were great sports through the whole thing, even though we had a ping advantage even on their server.

Screenshots:  Game One - Game Two

    CA vs. NWA, 7 on 7 on Lava Giant, both on our server.

    First game: CA played red.  The match got off to a chaotic start, with both teams grabbing and holding the other team's flag within the first 20 seconds of the match starting.  A lucky air burst Redeemer over the blue base downed the NWA flag carrier, the flag was returned and CA was off to a good start.  The chaos continued, however, with the NWA offense not letting up despite pings in the 150 to 250 ms range.  Eventually, however, CA's map control strategy and hard-charging offense resulted in a 5 to 2 spread.  A final-seconds cap by CA's all-star flag runner Messiah made the first round final 6 to 2.  The second round proved to be very very different, however.  CA decided during the half time break to stick with what worked, while NWA switched up personnel and tactics for the second round.  The changes worked, and the score was deadlocked at 1 to 1 10 minutes into the second round.  NWA had pushed up to dominate the nuke side of the mid-map, providing a safe route out for their flag runners and denying our runners a valuable route home.  Their strategy, combined with the creative use of nukes which had been the hallmark of the CA offense in the first game caught CA totally off guard.  NWA pressed their newfound advantage until the score was 4 to 2, NWA in the lead.  A desperate effort by CA in the last few minutes produced one more cap, but wasn't enough.  Final for the second round, 4 to 3.  Kudos to the second round offensive effort put up by T-Toe and Bornslinky.  All in all, we learned a lot in our first evenly matched confrontation with a nationally ranked clan.  We're definitely looking forward to meeting NWA again in the future.

Screenshots:  Game One - Game Two

    A quick summary of our three scrimmages so far:

First Scrimmage: January 25, 2000 - CA vs. C1
    We played what's perhaps the best UT CTF clan out there as our first outing.  They had 4, we had 6, and they handed us our asses on a platter in two 30 minute rounds on Lava Giant.  Neither round was a shutout, however, and we learned more in that hour or so than we have playing on public servers all last semester.  C1 was incredibly good sports through the whole thing, and we hope to meet them again sometime in the future.

Second Scrimmage: January 26, 2000 - CA vs. DK
    A friendly 6 on 6 on Lava Giant with the University's other UT CTF group, the Dark Knights.  Both teams learned a lot, in the end CA was victorious 10 to 0 both rounds.

Third Scrimmage: January 31, 2000 - CA vs. RIT
    In a battle of engineering schools, today we played the Rochester Institute of Technology  in two 30 minute rounds on The Last Command.  We again learned a lot in our first organized game on this map.  We think we got our tactics down pretty quickly, and the scores wound up CA 5, RIT 0 in both rounds.