In a well fought best-of-5 series versus Romulan Dawg, Tlaxtlan Soothsayer was crowned victorious 3-1. Soothsayer had a dominant tournament only losing one game on the path to victory securing the $750 1st place prize.
The Everchosen invitational was the first Total War tournament I’ve watched and I really enjoyed the games, pretty much all the factions were represented across the two days with really unexpected unit choices made. There were really interesting mental battles too, with one player countering an expected composition from the opponent, but the opponent was guessing that and picking something different.
What made it so much easier as a newcomer were the casters. For the majority of the games, it was Italian Spartacus along side Turin. Both new YouTube subscriptions for me.They had to strike a balance between introducing newcomers to the game itself, and discussing the high level competitive play we were watching while making it coherent, something I think they succeeded in.
There was no spectator, as one of the casters was always the one moving the camera around the battlefield, and not once did I feel like they were in the wrong place or missing key action.They obviously have the knowledge to see what is coming and to have the camera in the right place at the right time to discuss it.
One thing I really enjoyed was Italian Spartacus dropping some snippets of lore around the races and units. Whether it was answering if the two factions would be fighting in the lore, or something interesting about the backstory of the lord chosen. It gave the games some depth or importance mentioning a long history behind what we were seeing. Its difficult to explain that, but linking Total War: Warhammer 2 to it’s long past in the tabletop elevates it somehow.
The production was simple but effective, with only a few awkward pauses and sound issues at the beginning of the stream on the first day. On the second day I really appreciated the added score in the top left to remind you of who is playing what and where we are in terms of the series. Personally among all the excellent commentary I was getting a little lost at what the score was and who was what faction.
Game two of the third/fourth place game, Sekara vs Shetland Apache, was my personal favourite as it was Dark Elf vs Wood Elf. Both are incredibly micro-heavy factions and it went down to Malekith versus a pair of forest dragons. It was incredibly tense game to watch where every health point lost earlier in the battle mattered. Shetland Apache managed to defeat Malekith to secure 3rd place.
The final was fun, with Romulan Dawg facing a 3-0 defeat and managing to upset Soothsayer with some excellent Bretonnia play. It was really interesting to hear the commentators describe Bretonnia as one of the weaker factions and yet in the hands of top-tier players they could really bring out the strengths. By handing Soothsayer his first loss it set up the possibility of a 5-game series, but it was quickly snuffed out with some more Bretonnia play by Soothsayer to clinch the title.
Like I said, this was the first Total War tournament I have watched and I will definitely try and find more and improve my own knowledge. It may be something I attempt to cast myself with news of the new spectator mode for multiplayer.
CodexCaster's Contribution 