Four players in the History Hit Open have increased their winnings by at least another $300 after progressing into the Semifinals of the competition. They will face each other in two best of five matches on Saturday 16 October.
The Quarterfinals took place on 15 October, broadcast by NovaAoE on the HistoryHitTV Twitch channel. Across four sets, each a best of three, eight players competed for the grand prize in the $5,000 competition.
The Grand Final approaches
Mr_Yo was the first to make it through to the penultimate round, ousting JorDan following a tense standoff on Northern Isles. TheViper followed with a deciding game on the same map against ACCM. In the third set, Villese beat Project Belgium and Dogao became the final semifinalist when he defeated DauT.
The $5,000 prize pool is distributed amongst the finalists. Each quarterfinalist will be awarded $200. By progressing into the penultimate round, the four semifinalists have increased their winnings by a minimum of $300. The fourth-place winnings are $500, while the third-place winnings are $700, second-place winnings are $1,200 and the grand prize is $1,800.
Crossbow pressure
The day began with a rescheduled round of 16 match between saymyname and TheViper. Saymyname won the first game by applying constant pressure with his crossbowmen units, boxing in TheViper’s stressed economy. “I let him have the perfect mines game,” said Ørjan “TheViper” Larsen. “He played a way better early game.” Despite this, TheViper rescued a chance for a place in the grand final by defeating saymyname in rounds 2 and 3.
In the first game of the Quarterfinals, Mr_Yo played a successful rush, breaking through a risky quick-wall attempt by JorDan and winning the first round. A second round win by JorDan leads to a deciding game on Northern Isles.
A deadlock in the centre of the map breaks and allows Yo to capture the centre of the map, where he builds a castle to secure control. A progressively improving base of production and wider area of control sees Yo’s score steadily eclipse JorDan’s around 44 minutes in. Yo becomes the first player to enter the Semifinals.
Maritime supremacy
The Viper plays his second game of the day in his Quarterfinals match against ACCM, where he wins both matches. In the first, a failed tower rush by ACCM is followed by a trading game between ACCM’s Chinese camels and TheViper’s Cuman steppe lancers, which, produced from 11 stables, ultimately become too numerous for ACCM who resigns.
Their second game takes place on Northern Isles. ACCM’s recessed dock makes him vulnerable after his land attack on TheViper’s town centre is rebuffed. TheViper, playing Portuguese, stretches into the sea, which allows him to push ACCM’s economy from the water and win the set.
Mangonel misfire
Project Belgium and Villese compete over all three games in the third set of the Quarterfinals. A deciding game on Cross has Project Belgium on the backfoot already when he realises he’s missed an opportunity to upgrade to the Castle Age, leading him to resign. In the second game, a mangonel memorably crushes two of Project Belgium’s villagers at a crucial moment.
In the final set of the day, Dogao defeats DauT in a short decider on Cenotes after quickly establishing a strong economy and outnumbering him DauT militarily three to one. Dogao progresses as the final contender in the History Hit Open Semifinals.
