SNF S04E10 Symbiosis vs. Fir3ball Jan.20

Last Sunday, we saw total domination from Wehrmacht, as DevM and Aimstrong faced off in a best-of-five series that went all the way to the fifth game. The triumphant DevM is now waiting in the Championship Title Fight for the winner of this week's second Semi-Final series between Symbiosis and Fir3ball. The two contenders in this Semi-Final are good friends and regular practise partners but that won't stop either of them from pulling out all the stops to secure the second spot in the Grand Final. Symbiosis and Fir3ball both had impressive showings during Season 4 of Sunday Night Fights and it always seemed like a foregone conclusion that these two would qualify for the later stages.

Symbiosis went down hard to Aimstrong in Contender Bout #1 but picked himself up from that 3-0 thrashing to qualify for Contender Bout #2, after a grueling series against Sepha in the Second Quali Tourney. In that series he faced the DevM and despite suffering heavily in the early stages of every single game, Symbiosis was able to maintain good unit preservation and presence of mind to capitalise on DevM's mid-game mistakes. The series demonstrated the hallmark of Symbiosis's play; a consistent, conservative gameplay style of attrition that wears down his opponents and forces them into mistakes whilst making none himself. The Dutchman doesn't have the flair of some of the other top players but his ability to remain in games and always build up gigantic combined arms forces in the late-game makes him an undeniably daunting opponent.

Fir3ball performed reasonably well during this season but he found it hard to overcome the other big name players; falling 2-1 to Aimstrong in the First Quali Tourney and then 2-0 to DevM in the Second Quali Tourney. It took the upsets of the Third Quali Tourney to give Fir3ball the chance to play in a Contender Bout and then it was against the relatively unknown Twister. Aljaž, as he is also known, seized the chance with both hands and comfortably eased to victory against Twister 3-1 in Contender Bout #3. One of the few players to have achieved the top spot on all factions on the Relic Online Leaderboards, Fir3ball is a familiar face in big tournaments. However, there remains a big question mark hanging over him as he didn't have to beat any big name players in order to get this far.

Compared to the confidence and bravado displayed last week by both DevM and Aimstrong, this week's series is a far more gentlemanly affair with both players giving a lot of respect to each other and emphasising the importance of their friendship no matter the result. Both players have a history of performing well in big tournaments and both are considered to be of the highest quality with all factions. Symbiosis never seems to slip, other than a very off day against Aimstrong. Fir3ball similarly is a seasoned and consistent player who is known for his intensive practise and the huge number of games he plays when preparing for tournaments. Will Fir3ball return to his form of old and be able to raise his game to Symbiosis's level? Or will Symbi simply grind him down with flawless execution? Can Fir3ball exploit the conservative playstyle of Symbiosis or will he find himself breaking on the defensive play? Perhaps most importantly, will Wehrmacht lose a game?!



The excitable AmiPolizeiFunk, camerman Budwise and the man with the largest lungs in California, Yoink, will be joined this sunday by Inverse. The well known Canadian streamer and strategy guide maker will be on hand to provide expert analysis and insight whilst AmiPolizeiFunk and Yoink yell incoherently about knife fights and squirting! This match up is going to be an intense one, most people think it is too close to call and the only thing everyone agrees on is that the games certainly won't be short. So tune in and watch the crème de la crème of COH beating the crème out of each other!

Stats desk says

Argentan Crossroads:

• Map played: 35 times
  
• Allied wins: 13 wins (37%)
  
• Axis wins: 22 wins (63%)
  
• Symbiosis' record - Games played: 7 / Games Won: 4 / Win ratio: 57%
  
• Fir3ball's record - Games played: 6 / Games Won: 5 / Win ratio: 83%

Langres:

• Map played: 25 times
  
• Allied wins: 11 wins (44%)
  
• Axis wins: 14 wins (56%)
  
• Symbiosis' record - Games played: 3 / Games Won: 2 / Win ratio: 66%
  
• Fir3ball's record - Games played: 0 / Games Won: 0 / Win ratio: 0%

Angoville:

• Map played: 25 times
  
• Allied wins: 13 wins (52%)
  
• Axis wins: 12 wins (48%)
  
• Symbiosis' record - Games played: 0 / Games Won: 0 / Win ratio: 0%
  
• Fir3ball's record - Games played: 2 / Games Won: 0 / Win ratio: 0%