WCG ’09 TF2 highlight: VCO vs H2H semi-finals

The semi-finals between VCO and H2H was a clash between two of Singapore’s finest Team Fortress 2 teams, and it certainly did not disappoint. Both VCO and H2H played an extremely tactical game that was a pleasure to spectate. Both teams were more or less even on the first half but VCO outfoxed H2H in the second half to win the match 3-2 on aggregate.

cp_granary (H2H’s pick)

H2H opted to start off with 2 Scouts (Elwin and Perpie), Soldier (WilfredT), Demoman (can_lah_2), Heavy (DubZ) and Medic (Nic) for their loadout, while VCO went with 2 Scouts (Neth and Ace), 2 Soldiers (Malice and Sedated), Demoman (Cooty) and a Medic (Charlie) for theirs.

VCO’s slight offensive firepower advantage allowed them to take the mid cap, but H2H’s loadout with Heavy gave them more defensive firepower and they repulsed VCO’s attack on their second cap, trading three of their own for five of VCO’s members. This gave H2H an opening to take the mid cap from VCO. However, VCO soon countered and took the mid cap and H2H’s second cap. H2H piled on top of their final cap to defend against VCO with H2H’s DubZ on Heavy laying down suppresive fire, but VCO’s Neth on Scout sneaked around behind him through the bridge and took him out, allowing VCO to cap the final point and score the first point of the half.

VCO started off the second round by capping mid again, forcing H2H to make a successful tactical retreat which saved their Heavy and Medic. This helped H2H to take mid cap from VCO once they regained their numbers. VCO went on the offensive to retake the mid cap but were forced into retreat when H2H’s DubZ killed off VCO’s Charlie on Medic. H2H waited for Uber before continuing the offensive, capping VCO’s second cap without much resistance. H2H moved on to VCO’s final cap, and H2H’s combination of Nic on Medic and DubZ on Heavy would prove to be instrumental once again as the sheer survivablity and firepower of the two players kept VCO from defending the cap. H2H made short work of the cap and evened out the scores.

In the third round, VCO started off by taking down H2H’s Medic, Heavy and a Scout in quick succession, capping mid. H2H quickly countered with WilfredT taking down VCO’s Medic, Soldier and a Scout equally fast and took the mid cap from VCO. H2H continued their attack by pushing to VCO’s second cap, but found themselves quickly overwhelmed after VCO took down H2H’s entire heavy firepower section of DubZ (Heavy), WilfredT (Soldier) and can_lan_2 (Demoman). VCO punished H2H and retook the mid cap from H2H. H2H’s WilfredT on Soldier took down VCO’s Ace on Scout then proceeded to airshot Cooty’s Demoman. However, VCO’s Malice using Soldier with the support of Charlie’s Medic quickly took down H2H’s DubZ and WilfredT, clearing an opening for VCO to take H2H’s second cap. VCO tried to push into H2H’s base but Ubered too early, forcing VCO to retreat before being able to do much. Shortly after this, VCO’s Neth suddenly backstabbed H2H’s Medic from nowhere using Spy, giving VCO an opening to attack. Led by Ace and Sedated, VCO quickly took down a succession of H2H players and took the final cap and scored what would be the last point of the half.

The fourth round would start off with both teams trading players, with three down on each side. However, H2H had the advantage with VCO’s Medic down, but were not able to capitalize as VCO pushed H2H back and took the mid cap. H2H defended at their second cap but a flanking move by VCO’s Neth created a distraction that allowed VCO to take the cap. At this point there were only 19 seconds remaining on the clock and H2H was successful in keeping VCO away from their final cap. Final score for the half, VCO 2, H2H 1.

cp_badlands (VCO’s pick)

The first round opened with H2H taking down VCO’s Demoman (Cooty). With Cooty down, VCO opted to withdraw to the spiral cap. At this point, Ace told VCO to chill and take their time. This extremely defensive play by VCO put H2H in stalemate. If their offensive against VCO’s turtling fails, VCO would surely punish them by taking a few caps, pushing H2H back. On the other hand, if H2H doesn’t act fast enough, there would not be enough time to come back from the 2-1 score deficit from the previous half. Either way, H2H decided to proceed cautiously. Both sides neither gained nor lost ground for about three minutes, until VCO sent a Scout by the valley to backstab H2H. The Scout did not manage to kill any of H2H, but he served his purpose in distracting H2H long enough to allow Malice’s Soldier to take down two H2H players, giving VCO the opening they needed to cap mid and spiral. As VCO was advancing on H2H’s final cap, Elwin tried to backcap the spiral cap but was stopped by Neth. At the same time, Ace had switched to Sniper and took down H2H’s DubZ, depriving them of the Heavy’s stopping power. VCO pressed their advantage and quickly took down H2H and capped the final point to score the first point of the half.

With less than 10 minutes left on the clock and down by 2 points, H2H started to push aggresively. It was a lightning offensive in the second round as H2H wore down VCO’s Medic to force them into retreat, taking the mid cap and the spiral cap very quickly. H2H kept the pressure up and managed to cap VCO’s final point, ending the round in a matter of minutes.

At this point, it looked like H2H might actually be able to force a tiebreaker or even beat VCO if they managed to maintain their momentum from the previous round. H2H started off very strongly, taking down four VCO members to cap mid, and destroyed the rest to cap spiral shortly after. H2H started to push into VCO’s base but VCO managed to turn the tides and recapped the spiral cap from H2H. Elwin managed to snipe down VCO’s Medic at the mid cap but VCO still managed to take the mid cap. At this point, Perpie told H2H to push harder, but it was probably too late. VCO counterpushed H2H and took the spiral cap. At this point, there was only 30 seconds left on the clock and it was all over for H2H.

Final score: VCO 3-2 H2H (2-1, 1-1)

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