Two months have now passed since the World Of Firepower tournament blasted its way onto the Entropia Universe scene for the second time. A year on from its inception, the popular tournament has yet to stop growing. 32 teams entered the 2008 event, sporting greater numbers ranging from the ubers battling it out in the main teams to the lower skilled avatars doing their bit to help out the support teams. The well-prepared teams have had plenty of time to sort out tactics and the WoF globals came fast and furious from the onset, dominating the chat box every second weekend since February. Five weekends of battle have seen 20 teams eliminated and some new teams emerge amongst the tournament favourites. Only one question remains, who will win?
For any newcomers, the WoF is a massive
EU tournament conceived by Oscar Hurrikane Skyquake. Teams score points during 3-hour hunts by globalling on a given list of mobs to score points. In 2007, tournament favourites Team America clinched victory in a thrilling finale against Sweden and Romania. The 2008 tournament is now well under way. New rules allow not only the main teams to score points for their country but also, to a lesser extent, supporters now score points.
The first two stages saw the 32 teams battling for 24 qualification spots. Mobs ranging from the mighty Caperons to the puny Fouls were slain en masse. The scoring saw last year's three finalists emerge as seeds along with England, France and Tibet. Unexpectedly England convincingly topped the scoring with 770 points over the two matches and all the top six scored over 500 points, vastly greater than the points scored at this stage in last year's tournament.
Sadly eight teams had to leave the tournament, and despite putting in a valiant fight, Brazil, The Czech Republic, South Africa, Greece, Serbia, Austria, Ireland and Denmark were all eliminated. Denmark's 262 score was only 22 points short of Poland above them, but they'll feel somewhat comforted by the 11859 PED Atrax Dominant they killed along the way. That single loot exceeded the total loot in globals and HoFs scored by any one main team during the three matches in the following stage!
In Stage 3, Amethera Assault, the remaining teams battled it out in leagues of four, each team playing a match against each of the other teams in their group. The mobs to score on were all located on the Amethera continent - Equus, Scipulor, Kingfisher, Malcruentor, Bristlehog, TskTsk and the pesky Repesilex. The top two placed teams in each group would progress into the fourth stage.
A staggering 2,133 globals and 70 HoFs were recorded during Stage 3 of the WoF. The total loot returned in just the main team globals and HoFs amounted to a tally of 141,040 PED! Taking into account the non-global loot, the untracked support loot, and the qualifiers and remaining matches to be played, it seems certain that the turnover in
EU during WoF 2008 will be significantly over a million PED or $100,000!
One of this year's surprises, Finland put in a consistently strong challenge in Group A. Eudoria were left chasing a miracle in the final match against Turkey in order to steal second place. The battle for top spot was to be decided in a Finland-France showdown. Seeded France took the match 287-202 and progress in top spot. Amongst the pre-tournament favourites they'll need to improve to progress in Stage 4, although they'll feel they have yet to be truly tested.
Group B saw powerhouse Tibet, a WoF newcomer, storm to a massive victory, consistently scoring heavily and cementing their position amongst the tournament favourites. Australia were arguably an underdog starting the tournament but they performed well in qualification and went on to comfortably outshine Germany and the Netherlands for second place. One of only six teams to score over 1000 points in this stage, they'll be fancying their chances of going further.
In a fairly weak Group C, last year's runners up Sweden cruised to victory without shining. Like France they'll feel untested so far but a tricky group awaits them in Stage 4. Italy take second place with a score that wouldn't have made third in any of the other groups. They'll need to improve in Stage 4 but...you gotta be in it to win it!
Having already done enough to qualify after two matches, pre-tournament favourites faltered in the final match against Scotland but nevertheless win the group convincingly. After dominating the 2007 tournament USA remain amongst the top contenders this year. With a stellar squad consisting of some of the most skilled and well-equipped avatars in
EU they're sure to be one of toughest the teams to beat. They currently hold the highest main team score in a match so far this tournament, after the 4-man main team knocked in a remarkable 38 globals and 2 HoFs against Portugal.
Scotland had it all to do in the final match against USA, needing to gain points on Portugal to qualify. Whilst USA rested some of their key players, Scotland went in with all guns firing, putting in a rousing performance to score 483 points and qualify comfortably. Only USA and England have scored higher so they'll be buoyed by that going into Stage 4.
After dominating the qualifiers, England continued to perform strongly and comfortably won Group E. After scoring a remarkable 7 HoFs in one match to make a record breaking 549 points against Cuba, England joined USA in faltering in their third match but have nevertheless now established themselves as one of the strong tournament favourites.
The battle for second place was the tightest of all six groups. All three teams had a good chance going into the final match, and all three teams put in strong performances. Wales played a their strongest game of the tournament to beat England in a tight match where the 13 most-loot bonus points were the deciding factor. Despite the spirited finish, it wasn't enough to overcome their previous deficit. Norway fought hard against second placed Cuba, managing to win the match but not quite by enough. So in a tense finale, Cuba held on to their second place and will be going for glory in a daunting Stage 4 group.
Last year's finalists Romania were expected to cruise to victory in Group F. But despite a strong 1000 point scoreline, the seeds could only secure second spot in the group. As a result they face fellow 2007 finalists Sweden and USA in Stage 4 in what should be a very interesting group to follow.
In the shock of the tournament so far, Poland put in a stunning performance to win Group F. The team mustered only 284 points over the two qualifying matches making them the lowest placed team to progress. But after teetering on the brink of elimination they now teeter on the brink of glory after a remarkable improvement in Stage 3. They also enter their names into the WoF record books. In their match against Belgium they scored a record breaking 65 globals and 2 Susan's (a 113 PED global, in memory of Susan 113 Smith) thanks to a magnificent 40 global support performance. They'll be looking to capitalise on that strong support squad in Stage 4.
Stage 4, Bye Robot, will see the remaining twelve teams battle it out in three leagues. Rumour has it Treasure Island owner Deathifier cracked open a bottle of champagne when he saw the mob list. The main teams will be looking for globals and HoFs on Drones, Warriors, Miner Bots and Second Entities. The support squads will score points on Troopers and Globsters whilst the bonus mob is Hiryuu. The top two teams in each group progress into the semi-finals.
Group A is formed by Tibet, France, Italy and Scotland. Tibet look favourite for the group but both France and Scotland scored close to 1000 points in Stage 3 so the competition should be close. Italy need to improve to compete.
In a remarkable twist of fate, last year's three finalists all meet each other again in Group B. USA look favourites but its a tough one to call between the three. Cuba would notch out a piece of history for themselves if they manage to progress.
England find themselves avoiding the tournament seeds in Group C and look favourites, but both Poland and Australia scored over 1000 points in Stage 3 and Finland won't be ruling themselves out either, so its another tough one to call.
Keep up to date on the progress of the WoF in Entropia Forum's
WoF subforum. Threads to keep an eye on include the
WoF Warsheet with up to date scorecards (used in this article) by J Boy and the Stage 4 tournament
details. Some entertaining threads to visit include Centech's series of WoF odds, latest
here, the
Final Moblist Sweepstake where you can win 10k EFD by guessing the mobs in the Final, and last but by no means least Hurrikane's amusing
running commentary on the 2008 WoF event.