LCDR Trion Kadeshi and LT Marithin Sanalis Win February Cruiser Tourney

YC109.02.18

The Reserve's second cruiser tourney under ADM Derrys Otireya's training program was held on Sunday. Once again, it was a single-elimination, 2-on-2 tournament, though there were significant changes to the rules for the latest tournament. Chief among them was a prohibition on the use of ECM of all sorts similar to the rules insitituted for the last few rounds of the Caldari Championships. Eight teams were selected at random and paired up for four first-round matches that saw some surprising results.

The first battle saw one of the tournament favorites, LCDR Trion Kadeshi and LT Marithin Sanalis, triumph over the team of LT Kuro Tenshi and LCDR Cierra Astris. Despite the expected outcome, LCDR Astris' team inflicted a great deal of damage, downing one of their opponents' ships before finally succumbing.

The second battle saw a surprising upset as LCDR Sokira and LCDR Shrewsberry shot down the favorites ADM Otireya and CDR Zevrik in another hard-fought battle. The loss was largely attributed to a disadvantageous warp-in position on the part of the losing team, which allowed Sokira and Shrewsberry to separate and destroy them.

The third preliminary battle saw LT Kyoto Tetsutaaka and CAPT Teravada go down to CAPT Scarlet and LT Gosok, with CAPT Teravada's Moa melting under the combined fire of CAPT Scarlet's Arbitrator and LT Gosok's Caracal, shortly before LT Tetsutaaka finished off Scarlet's ship, turning the fight into a Caracal duel that ended up with Gosok the victor.

The last first round fight saw CDR Wolfgang Jager and LT Ayari win a hard fought battle against CDR Cazzir and LT Yukora Shinsong in another closely-matched contest, putting them into the semifinals.

The first semifinal saw a strong victory by the drone-heavy Kadeshi/Sanalis team, using their Vexor and Arbitrator to grind their opponents, LCDR Sokira and LCDR Shrewsberry, into dust, despite the loss of one of their own vessels, putting LCDR Kadeshi into the finals for the second time in a row, having been part of the last tournament's winning team.

In comparison, the second semifinal match had one of the most nailbiting battles seen to date in the Reserve cruiser tournament series. CDR Jager and LT Ayari fielded a powerful Rupture-Vexor combination, matched against CAPT Scarlet's own Rupture and LT Gosok's Caracal. Both sides warped in to almost the exact same point, creating a pitched furball that first claimed CDR Jager's ship, then LT Gosok's, and then a duel down to the wire where CAPT Scarlet and LT Ayari were locked in a desperate struggle. In the end, CAPT Scarlet managed to win the day, but her ship was nearly destroyed, with a scant 3% of her structure intact, placing two more previous finalists into this tournament's final as well.

In comparison, the final battle was anticlimactic; LT Gosok and CAPT Scarlet fielded a Caracal and Vexor respectively, while LCDR Kadeshi and LT Sanalis once again flew their Vexor-Arbitrator combination. Unfortunately for her, CAPT Scarlet's strategy of going for the drones first was a failure; she was unable to destroy them fast enough, and both she and her wingman were destroyed without destroying either of their opponents, giving Kadeshi and Sanalis a well-deserved victory.

Congratulations to both LCDR Trion Kadeshi and LT Marithin Sanalis on winning the tournament! Each will receive a prize of 50M ISK and a Covert Ops Cloak courtesy of ADM Derrys Otireya.