Unconquerable v FunkOff match replays
Yesterday I interviewed Unconquerable and FunkOff prior to a set of exhibition matches. They played three games, with Unconquerable winning two and drawing one (thus living up to his pseudonym). Without further ado, here are the replays and some analysis:
Match 1: Unconquerable (Cybran) v FunkOff (UEF) on Finn’s Revenge
The game starts off pretty typically. Both players are using the same optimized build order for this map: two power generators, two metal extractors, one land factory, then another power generator. Unconquerable deviates slightly by going for a fourth power generator before his fourth mass extractor. After both players have all four power generators and mass extractors up, they each build a second land factory. Then the fun begins.
Both players send their engineers out to start claiming mass deposits. By four minutes both players have sent their commanders up to the front lines, with FunkOff’s commander going to the southeast chokepoint and Unconquerable’s going to the northwest. Some tech 1 units start skirmishing with each other. FunkOff’s commander builds a land factory on the front and starts work on his forward base. But Unconquerable’s commander continues walking through the chokepoint, heading right towards FunkOff’s base! Unconquerable has scouted out FunkOff’s commander, and sends his commander round the opposite way.
Both players build air factories and start work on interceptors. Unconquerable’s commander is now in FunkOff’s base, destroying his aircraft factory and more of his buildings. FunkOff’s commander runs into Unconquerable’s considerable army and diverts to take out Unconquerable’s expansion base in the center of the island. From this point on, the fates are basically sealed.
Unconquerable’s commander continues blowing up and reclaiming FunkOff’s base, while FunkOff’s commander gets stuck in a morass of units. That’s pretty much the game. Unconquerable wins be virtue of having an army large enough to repel FunkOff’s commander, while FunkOff’s army isn’t large enough to do the same for Unconquerable’s commander. FunkOff’s commander retreats into the water in the middle of the map, heavily damaged, while Unconquerable’s commander continues ravishing his base. As soon as he steps out of the water, he runs into the horde of units waiting for him, and goes up in a huge explosion just nine minutes into the game. Unconquerable leads, 1-0.
Match 2: Unconquerable (UEF) v FunkOff (UEF) on Open Palms
Again both players are using the same build order, with the early second factory built directly by the commander. I would definitely keep my eye on this strategy; it seems to be very effective at the early rush. However, FunkOff’s second factory is an air factory, whereas Unconquerable goes for two land factories. Is FunkOff trying for an early commander assassination by bomber?
By four minutes Unconquerable already has a decent number of fighting units and is sending his commander up to the front lines. Unconquerable is doing a good job of expanding and securing those mass deposits, while FunkOff’s efforts are being destroyed by Unconquerable’s commander, who has crossed over past the map’s midpoint. FunkOff’s bombers start harassing Unconquerable’s infrastructure, but they seem unable to do enough damage quickly enough.
The two commanders start duking it out in the middle of the map. Unconquerable puts the rush on an air factory and pumps out some interceptors to counter FunkOff’s bombers. FunkOff has, for some reason, spammed out mainly engineers, and his base is set upon by Unconquerable’s tanks, while the two commanders are still occupied with each other in the middle. Unconquerable has established undeniable air superiority at this point and begins working on bombers.
Unconquerable starts trying to withdraw his commander from the action, but FunkOff isn’t letting him go. A chase ensues. Unconquerable’s bombers deal serious damage to FunkOff’s commander. FunkOff, realizing he is going down, doesn’t give up the opportunity to take Unconquerable with him. FunkOff’s commander explodes, and since he’s been following around Unconquerable’s commander, they both explode, leading to a draw at just under 10 minutes. In a post-match comment Unconquerable says that he “really should have won this one.”
Match 3: Unconquerable (Cybran) v FunkOff (Cybran) on Saltrock Colony (civilian units turned off)
This is FunkOff’s chance to redeem himself. If he wins this one, the overall score across three matches will be 1-1-1, a total draw.
This match is by far the most interesting of the three, and if you only end up watching one replay, I recommend that it be this one. FunkOff and Unconquerable end up starting in the two southwestern starting points, almost right on top of each other. Unconquerable uses the same two-factory build order, but FunkOff uses a scout and realizes how close the enemy is, and sends in his commander after building only one factory. At less than three minutes into the game, FunkOff is already in Unconquerable’s base, destroying it.
Unconquerable retaliates by sending his own commander over to FunkOff’s base to begin destroying it. Unconquerable flees his engineer to the middle of the map for safety, while FunkOff doesn’t manage to escape with anything. This will prove crucial later on. After destroying each other’s bases, the two begin rebuilding where their enemy’s bases were, even rebuilding right on top of the destroyed structures to get the construction bonus. They’ve basically swapped bases at this point.
Unconquerable builds a naval factory in the water and a land factory in the center, while FunkOff is concentrated solely at his new base. This pattern repeats itself throughout the whole rest of the game. Unconquerable has many outlying structures, some of which survive long enough to reap significant dividends, while FunkOff just can’t spread himself out far enough, leaving most of his buildings vulnerable to being taken out at once.
The two commanders swap again, with Unconquerable going to destroy FunkOff’s base (which was once his) and FunkOff going to destroy Unconquerable’s base in the center. The two both find themselves in terrible resource crunches, with their only source of energy being what their commander generates. Unconquerable rebuilds his original base, while FunkOff starts rebuilding in the center. But Unconquerable is clearly ahead, leading two bases to one. FunkOff should’ve focused on retaking his old base, not the stuff in the center. Meanwhile, Unconquerable has built a frigate which he is using to take out FunkOff’s mass extractors near the waterline, and Unconquerable is expanding more effectively to make use of the outlying mass deposits.
FunkOff’s army levels Unconquerable’s original base for the second time, while Unconquerable destroys FunkOff’s base in the middle with his commander. Then FunkOff’s commander goes and cleans out Unconquerable’s base at what was once FunkOff’s starting point … I think. It’s getting so confusing at this point. Unconquerable’s commander and army team up to take out FunkOff’s remaining base in the northwestern region of the map, with a frigate providing fire support. By about 19 minutes, the fate of the game is sealed. Unconquerable has multiple bases and multiple factories spread across the map while FunkOff has basically lost everything, and is hurriedly rushing to try to establish a new base for himself.
By 21 minutes, Unconquerable has used a bunch of engineers to hurry up a tech 2 air factory, and immediately starts building gunships. They do significant damage to FunkOff’s commander, who only barely manages to counter in time with mobile AA units. Unconquerable has managed to establish two land factories behind FunkOff’s new base, and is now assaulting from both sides. At 22 minutes FunkOff flees into the water, his base in ruins and his commander nearly dead. Unconquerable switches his air factory over to torpedo bombers to secure the win. Unconquerable wins at 23:30, for a cumulative score of 2-0-1.
Summary
One thing that becomes immediately apparent upon watching how these matches were played is that both players used their commanders really aggressively. At about the four minute mark in each game, the commanders would come out of their bases and go on the attack. In the third game this was especially humorous, because the players ended up swapping bases multiple times. They both used pretty much the same build orders in the beginning of the game, but Unconquerable was consistently able to build up a larger army more quickly out of the initial build stage.
Unconquerable’s play was also more strategic in scope. He didn’t just focus on the small micro battles at hand. He was always building more units and factories, and expanding to claim mass deposits. Both players were very flexible, adapting nearly instantaneously to counter whatever strategy their opponents were using. But in the end, Unconquerable’s war machine was simply more effective, and he got the wins that he deserved.
March 14th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Great recaps! Thanks for doing this.