The screen showed multiple angles of the players capping beacons, killing robots and executing jiggle peeks on the map. Both of the teams were playing at an extremely high level and the crowd was raving about it.

In the audience, Jesse “kingslayer99” Carillo, a tall, lanky guy using glasses, was the renowned vice-captain of the Philippine national team. He was known as the “Filipino bonjwa” for his mastery of the metagame in War Robots.

He knows for instance that a Lancelot is the most versatile heavy robot on the game in which everyone can use different setups and weapons in order to reach certain objectives. A Tarancilot is a combination of two Tarans (an energy weapon that can reach up to 450 units) and an Ancile (an energy shield that can block all physical projectiles, including rockets) and is used against robots without physical shields. Meanwhile, an Orkancilot is a combination of two Orkans (a rocket weapon that can go through solid material) and an Ancile  and is best against robots with physical shields. Finally, an Ancilot is any weapon setup on a Lancelot with an Ancile and can be suited to counter-pick enemy lineups.

There are many types of mechs in War Robots, divided into three classes: light, medium and heavy. On a quick glance, light robots are used for scouting, beacon capping, harassing and flanking. In addition, medium robots are used for support roles and frontline roles. Then, heavy robots are used for various roles such as sniping and spearheading.

Carillo, though clearly enjoying the spectacle and the moves done by the players on screen, was busy taking notes and creating notations on his stenography pad. He knows that he will need to analyze, study and create tactics later for his team, regardless of who wins the matchup. He is hoping that the Russians will lose their match so that they don’t have to face them in the playoffs; after all, the Vampire and his team are known for sucking entire clans out of the elimination brackets.

The fight ensued. Explosions and smoke trails were everywhere on the map as the casters were hyping and providing instant analysis at the same time. The crowd was cheering loudly whenever a robot explodes. At the same time, many loved the Koreans for their good looks; thus, they were clapping whenever one of them shows up on camera. As for the Russians, they were excellent in-game and had very good personalities. However, they looked like giants from an old Greek mythology movie, which intimidated the audience a bit, especially during signing sessions.

“CYKA BLYAT IDI NA HUI!” was the reaction of one of the players as he went down to his last two bots.

“Don’t panic, Artour.” The captain sternly reminded his men not to break formation and to stick to the plan.

“But –“

“Tovarishch, ya znayu. I know, Comrade and I can see clearly what is happening, so let’s pick ourselves together and try to hold this map for ourselves!”

The Koreans were already miles ahead and the Vampire knew that if they lose this map, they will need to go up second seed, which is a rather dangerous concept considering that Sweden or Brazil were waiting for them.

They needed to survive.

But they were running out of options and time. It is already seven and a half minutes into the map and the Koreans still have 60% of their conquest bar intact, along with God-knows-how-many bots.

In other words, the Russians were in a very bad position, to say the least.

You can read the next chapter here! As for the previous one, you can always go back!