My God, it's full of stars!

And the grand finale will be Sunday.

For those of you who missed previous rounds, they have been recorded in video and deposited at CCP’s YouTube vid site go here.

Tomorrow also begins a live streaming broadcast of the semi-final and final matches, and if the coverage is anything like the previous Tournament VI, we’re all in for a treat.   Not only are we going to probably see some good fights (and likely plenty of player side betting) but with the slow but steady drum beat of the Dominion release getting louder by the day, and with what I can see so far: a positive response from the Eve Online player-base – we’re going to probably be thown more juicy dog-bones about Dominion.  Just don’t leave your dog house too soon, Dominion release as far as I know is still 2 months away.

I have been following closely this Alliance Tourney,  because of  how valuable IMO a learning tool it is for PvP.  I have also spent a good amount of time collecting the statistics for both preliminary rounds these last two weeks for my own edification, and to get a stronger grasp of some of the PvP dynamics taking place.  And I’ve been sharing the stats I came up with and my observations on this BLOG, and it has been popular: my BLOG last week having 857 visitors.

What can I say about what I have learned before this final weekend begins?  I will bullet what I have learned so far – and note: I still consider myself a NOOB, having only been in a single PvP fight myself.  So when reading my bullets, keep this in mind, that I may be seriously wrong about my observations but I’m going to write them anyway because – it’s a BLOG and that’s what I’m suppose to be doing here, writt’n what I think:

• ISK is not as important as Planning and Quality Combat Pilots & FC Leadership: I know this is rather obvious to some, but it really is worth re-stating:  IMO after watching closely these last two Tourney weekends, one thing stood out:  even if an Alliance spent billions more than their opponent, if the billions they spent was on a fail setup with not so good planning, or the FC (Fleet Commander) in charge of calling out primary targets and/or deciding other tactical moves is a fail, it doesn’t matter how much ISK your alliance throws at a round:  you’re going to lose and will lose badly.  First is good planning with well thought-out setups, and first-rate combat piloting, then think about the  ISK.  Don’t get me wrong, ISK spent on the right setup with the right pilots does make a difference and all things being equal, a good pilot in a Marauder is going to take down a good pilot in a Brutix … so you can’t be stupid about it, the ISK will buy you better ships: but first you have to have a good plan and good pilots to put in those billion ISK ships.
• Bringing the right balanced setup that is in context for the Fight is critical: Conventional wisdom is good, but sometimes you really need to throw it out the window and pay attention to the context and combat environment.  We saw in the first week of the tournament plenty of E-War type setups deployed and losing badly.  We saw ships you would normally expect to do well failing in their role.  We also saw Alliance setups that depended on too large a tank and not enough DPS, and although sometimes winning the round:  putting themselves on precarious ground because of low point totals.   The second week more Alliances did adapt – but sometimes swinging hard in the opposite direction, many Abaddons deployed that hardly fired a shot because of being massively cap drained.  Billions spent on Marauders that still weren’t enough, being beaten by lower cost but more effective or better piloted setups.  Therefore:  one must be aware of the environment you plan to fight in, and be able to counter-balance what your opponent will likely bring to the fight.  Either via inside spy information, or by watching closely what ships are doing well and what ships aren’t, seeing how your opponent has fought in previous rounds, and bringing a balanced but effective setup geared to the alliance you are facing and the combat environment.
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• The less balanced setup is riskier: In general, the balanced setups have done better this tournament than single theme setups.  There have been a few exceptions, such as Pandemic Legion’s second round fight – but it is likely they were able to gauge what their opponent was going to bring to the battlefield.  If you have not an inkling what your opponent is bringing:  then balanced setup is the conventional wisdom:  and yes, sometimes conventional wisdom is wisdom for a reason.  Setups that brought to many Battleships, too many Bombers, too many E-War ships, too many Destroyers, often found themselves in multiple pods at the end of the fight.  Only because when you bring an imbalanced setup, it is easy for an opponent with a balanced setup to simply take advantage of your Achilles heel and shut you down long enough, or DPS you fast enough, that whatever advantage you thought might be your edge evaporates like skim milk on a hot griddle.
• Ships will be Lost: Opening, Mid-game & End-Game Planning: This is rather important.  As you watch many fights, you begin to realize how much they are like a chess game (and I used to play quite a bit of chess) there is an opening, a mid-game and an end-game to a match.  In the opening, it is the time when you are likely to have your most DPS, and 2 things are critical 1) selecting the most important primary target for takedown, that will increase your advantage later in the game 2) positioning your fleet to lessen your opponents advantage/chances and increase your own.  If either primary targets are not selected well, or you position your fleet poorly, allowing your opponent to take down important early game targets, or not taking advantage of your own fleet’s strengths – your chances for winning the fight go down hill rapidly (much like a bad opening in a chess game).  The Mid-Game you must expect that some of your ships will be gone.  Did you plan pre-match accordingly?  Is your setup balanced enough to take some ship losses and still remain effective?  Mid-game  is about protecting your post Opening-game assets- that hopefully still remain effective, and continuing to take down your Opponents assets – but also keeping in mind the End-Game, and preserving those ships that play well for End-Game.  The End-Game is often won by the side that has the bigger tank and decent DPS (that isn’t being blocked), but tank usually wins it – unless your opponent has overwhelming DPS left, then nothing will save you.
• Pilot error can cost you the fight before it even begins:  Wow did this play out so true both weekends.  How many alliance teams had pilots fly out of the arena by accident?  Or move before the fight began being penalized half armor, half shields, and half hull structure – one time an entire team’s ships were penalized for all of them moving before the fight began.  In one instance, an Alliance team lost their Logistics ship to a GM because they brought too many ships to the battlefield (went over the point count allowed).   So, sometimes it doesn’t matter how much PvP skill and how much ISK you bring to a fight:  if one of your pilots or the entire team does a rules FUBAR – it’s likely going to be all over except for the shouting.
• Drones lots of them & Logistics:  Drones have been used extensively so far in this tourney and often have proven the key to a win.  I expect more to be deployed this weekend as well.  The surprise however, is often there doesn’t seem to be a heck of a lot of planning to counter Drone usage – how often did I see a match where a single smart-bomb could have made a huge difference?  Kudos to Eve University for bringing the disco Rokh, and how close a match that was – it was an unfortunate loss to a well planned setup.  But never underestimate Drones – at least I will never do so in PvP.  And plan accordingly.  Also:  Logistics have proven their worth in gold this tourney, though bringing the right type of Logistics ship is important.
• The Big ISK ships can make a difference especially End-Game:  The Marauders, the T3’s, the Black Ops, the Rattlesnake Faction Battleships … usually are the ships you will see at the End-Game portion of a fight, and they can and do make a difference given proper piloting and if the Opening and Mid-game portion of the match was played properly by Fleet Command and pilots.  A single Tengu took down 4 battle-cruisers single-handedly last weekend – if that can tell you anything about the power of one of these ships in End-Game.  Granted:  you still must have the DPS.  A billion ISK ship that has been only given a massive tank with no DPS doesn’t do well in End-Game, you do need some DPS.

So.  That’s some of what I have learned.  I might be wrong, but it’s my take on the action so far.  And I know for myself, I know a lot more about PvP than I did a few weeks ago, and expect to learn even more this week.  Just watching some of the tactics being fielded is also educational.  Watching what ships are getting targeted for cap drains, what ships are primaried in opening game, what ships tank well, which logistics are used and why, or seeing Caldari hulls dominating with their Missiles and shield Tanks -  all PvP lessons learned.

I am looking forward to tomorrow.  It’s gonna be fun.  And with the live video stream, I’m gonna be glued to my computer.  Try prying me away from it at own risk.