RTS-League: Clan Leagues for Strategy Gamers

Season 38 of RTS League's Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Clan League yet again brought together quite a rich array of players ranging from top experts to gamers still on the rise, all of whom have one thing in common every time they sign up - they want to have fun in a proper clan competition with traditional settings everyone loves. This all regularly results in scores of interesting games and entertaining live streams on our Twitch or YouTube, and, more importantly, at the end of it all, we learn who the best clan in the whole of AoC is. So, what was the story this season?

Sign-ups featured a very nice number of clans, totalling at 35 teams, which meant quite a rich competition between players from all around the world - besides regular participants such as CZ Clan, New Chapter or Arg, we've also seen some newcomers or clans coming back after a long pause - names like SlipKn0T Team, FOX Gaming or LeO with Age of HD sure made this season very interesting!

Group Stage

The division warfare brought together a good amount of top quality clans in each of the five groups, but the most surprising proved to be Division 4 that ended up being a true group of death. Its top seeded clans had to fight for supposedly "their" Playoff spots hard from the very start, and not everyone succeeded, as the very well-playing newcomers Age of HD together with the second team of The Jedi Masters played well above expectations and their teamwork was truly excellent.

In other divisions, the battles were no less interesting, even if the advancing teams were a bit more clear, and we have seen some unexpected results such as Silver CZ Clan stumbling with Birras y Tapas or Golden Lords of Skulls against Run Forrest Run, with some other notable performances coming from 1NV or Gaucho in their difficult divisions. We also need to, of course, mention the epochal achievement of clan LeO managing to claim their first ever win in a fight with Dragons Masters X!

In the end, with the help of several deciders, we learnt the best 16 clans to advance into the Postseason, featuring plenty of expected names, but also some barely anyone besides fanatic fans would expect.

Find all the streamed games on our YouTube and recs in our archive

Playoffs

From the very early rounds we could've witnessed some great match-ups, such as Power of Japan challenging Lords of Skulls or Berserkers fighting Vikingos Nómadas, but the truly important games for the following progress were happening elsewhere. TheJedi|B, with strong reinforcement from GracieBirdy, were confirming against Arg their division achievement was no mistake with their impeccable Nomad play, while ByT's inspirational leader TaToH continued to give strength and purpose to his clanmates against another former Champions SlipKn0T Team. At the same time nC, regular Banner holders, received a proper scare and warning with having to go through a tricky decider with well-playing FOX.

With the switch to the Best of 5 format and some cool preset maps in the Quarterfinals, the fights got onto another level, as most of the matches were true nail-biters and great to watch. While CZ Clan as one of the favourites for the Title ended the way of this season's surprise Age of HD, the other three were having a pretty tough time trying to claim their own. Both nC and LoS were forced to undergo all five gruelling games, at times being very, very close to elimination, as they had to turn their epic matches versus Run Forrest Run and The Jedi Masters B around to achieve final victory and keep their chances of success alive. The fourth favourite, the highest seeded clan in the Playoffs, Berserkers, though found their betters in Birras y Tapas and only confirmed the unpredictable nature of this season's Playoffs.

The final four was then an assortment of worthy clans of which literally any could finish top. All three "Bannered" clans from last season were present, with one extra having a season of dreams. This promised fun Semifinals and that they truly were, and, interestingly enough, both had the same result and both had a similar progress. ByT and nC prepared well and on Atlantean Relics chose the correct strategy to give them a head start, but even though they fought with all the resolve they could muster, last season's Finalists were all too keen on having a rematch to let anything get in their way.

Find all the streamed games on our YouTube and recs in our archive

Grand Finals

Four seasons, four Grand Finals - that is the record for CZ Clan since Season 35. Champions in S35 and S36, and then came Lords of Skulls and snatched the Title from them in S37. Now here's a rematch and debt to be paid.

With the incredibly strong line-ups backed by equally strong performances, no one can doubt those two clans are currently the top of the cream. CZ Clan is renowned for its skill in team games with names like Fallowyourmind (Error), Janik, Mango, Ovenka or Skull, while Lords of Skulls are boasting true experts performing equally well when playing together - Guh or RiuT supported by Alucardguts are names you have probably already heard of , with miguelzin being a true pillar of their success in not only this season.

The first game took place on unusual Palisade Arena, offering multiple ways how to approach the map. CZ didn't waste any time in revealing their general plans, starting with a nice boar steal and continuing further in a similarly aggressive fashion, and actually quite soon found themselves right inside the opponents' bases, wreaking havoc all around, and claiming a rather fast and decisive victory.

LoS expectedly chose Arabia due to their 1v1 skillers, but the game wasn't going according to plan at all. CZ continued with their aggressive approach, stealing boars and pressuring their opponents early, and it took the home team quite a long time to even look as if they could survive. The game then developed into a long pitched battle, going to and fro, until LoS stabilised enough to start pushing back, back to their victory and evening the match out.

Ancient Lake was, on the other hand, an unexpected choice for CZ's home map, the same as their double Mongols. This map is reliant on sneaky landings, and since CZ picked it, that's exactly what they did, but it did not have the effect they had hoped for - the reaction by LoS was great and they were soon able to kick the invaders away from their shores without too much effort. A big and long water battle ensued, with some curious Cannon Galleon vs. Trebuchet duels, and all seemed to be in a stalemate, until CZ slowly started getting the upper hand and other opportunities for deciding landings came - and this time, even through pretty competent enemy defence, they succeeded.

The second set map and fourth overall was Soul, an intriguing island with individual compartment for each player. LoS, staring defeat in the eyes, opted for a change in line-up, while CZ yet again showed their meticulous preparation for the final match by going double Mayans, making sure they had a flank Mesoamerican player ready to roll. Even though LoS soon gained control over the water, giving them economical and map control advantage, it started to look evident CZ had no real interest in any of that, as their plan seemed to be to steamroll their opponents on land before water could make any kind of a decisive impact. With such deep tactical preparation, it was no wonder their plan was working, and even though the opponents put up valiant efforts to turn the tide of the battle in their favour, the inevitable end still came, this time with no coming back for the defeated side - we have seen the rise of the new Champions of RTS League's Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Clan League:



The honourable Silver-placed clan:



Watch the Grand Finals on RTS League YouTube

Download the Grand Finals recs and discuss them at AoCZone

Bronze Banner Battle

There's though always one more Banner to be awarded to the deserving clan, and looking at past seasons, it would be a weird occurence if New Chapter weren't going for it. They yet again proved their top quality in team games and were the favourites for the last fight, but against them stood Birras y Tapas, a clan probably nobody fitted as top 4 before the season started, and they also wanted to finish on a high note. The match itself started with a boom, a truly epic Palisade Arena that had you guessing the winner till the very end, and continued with water maps that were the domains of both clans so far. But only one could prevail on them now, and so, after confirming their first water win on Islands on interesting Migration as well, the Bronze Banner yet again belongs to:



Watch the Bronze Banner Battle on RTS League YouTube

Download the Bronze Banner Battle recs and discuss them at AoCZone

Congrats and well done CZ, LoS and nC!

And big thanks to all the participating clans for making this season so great yet again!

As usual, we also mustn't forget about all the streamers who helped us cast the epic battles live, bringing them to all the fans and clanmates to enjoy, so thanks everyone for the help, especially Gripen and the Voobly Community Team!

The next Season in line, 39, is currently looking to begin about the end of summer, but we're monitoring the situation and potentially could start a bit earlier. In any case, follow us on our community channels and you'll learn when the time is ripe for more top quality clan wars



Looking for Staff!

Btw we're always on the lookout for community members eager to help their fellow players enjoy the game we all love even more!

Currently we would quite welcome help from a skilled webmaster to improve on our web, so if you have experience with creating and running websites (especially PHP) and would like to leave your mark on not only the "Age of" community, make sure to contact us! (Careful to replace the addressee line with my nick - Black Adder )

We could definitely also find use for various other talents you might have, especially concerning graphics, streaming or other content creation, and our League Staff team could also accommodate another enthusiast to make sure our Leagues function as well as possible!

So if you'd like to help us bring RTS League and the fun it offers to the community to the next level and join our team, be sure to message me (careful to replace the addressee line with my nick - Black Adder ) with your ideas and how do you think you could help us and the community improve!

About us:
RTS League is the foremost and longest running "Age of" clan competition ever, with a history of hosting numerous other strategy games (like StarCraft II, Empire Earth, and Dawn of War) in the past. Fun and friendliness are the prominent aspects of RTS League, with the unquestionable prestige and fame the triumph brings to the top finishing clans following close behind.