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Trajbalajka steals Devastation late and wins 30:27

Jano led for most of the match, hemeroid built an eight-kill spree, and Trajbalajka saved the decisive surge for the final minutes.

Devastation did not bother with a warm-up. Six seconds in, Trajbalajka opened the scoring on Flakjack with the Ultra Instagib Rifle and made it clear this Deathmatch would not be a cautious tour of the map. The first point brought no comfort, though: Flakjack quickly moved into the lead, Jano kept making life harder for himself with his own rockets, and hemeroid patiently created room for a later charge. Across 20 minutes and 43 seconds the lead changed four times, the table repeatedly compressed to a one-point gap, and Trajbalajka was the player who finally reached the target of 30. The final 30:27:26:24:0 hardly shows how long somebody else appeared to have the match under control.

Opening two minutes: Flakjack takes the wheel

First blood belonged to Trajbalajka at 0:06, but Flakjack answered immediately. At 0:27 he dropped hemeroid with the Shock Rifle, Jano soon added a rocket suicide, and at 0:50 Flakjack put Jano down with an Enforcer shot from 29.5 metres. That produced the first lead change: Flakjack moved ahead 2:1 over Trajbalajka. By the two-minute mark he had four points, with a second quick kill on Trajbalajka completing a Double Kill.

Jano was meanwhile finding his rhythm with the Rocket Launcher and Trajbalajka stayed within reach. At 2:10 Jano hit Trajbalajka with another rocket to register a Double Kill, but the lead still remained elsewhere. The next swing came at 3:00: two Stinger kills on Jano lifted Trajbalajka to five points and changed the name at the top for the second time. The opening had no single master; it looked more like a game of hot potato, except the potato had a warhead.

Jano builds a lead, Flakjack finds the Combo

After three minutes IndigenousArrow briefly entered the story as well. His only kill came at 3:26 with the Bio Rifle against Jano, but he left after less than three minutes of play and his score returned to zero after a Sniper Rifle suicide. Up front, Jano settled into his most recognisable pattern: Rocket Launcher, short range, another rocket. At 3:59 he reached seven points and caused the third lead change. By five minutes he had touched ten, although another self-inflicted rocket soon removed one.

The middle of the first half belonged to chaos. Trajbalajka and Jano hovered around 11 to 12 points near 8:30 when Flakjack produced the strongest multikill burst of the match. At 9:02 he killed Jano with the Link Gun, three seconds later he did the same to hemeroid, and at 9:08 he finished Trajbalajka with a Shock Combo. The Double Kill to Multi Kill sequence carried Flakjack to eight points and showed how his varied arsenal could disrupt the favourites. Jano still held the lead, and the 10th minute climbed to nine kills, the busiest stretch of the match.

hemeroid's spree and a 44.7-metre rocket

From 10:11 the shape of the match began to change. hemeroid first killed Jano with the Rocket Launcher, then at 10:16 hit Trajbalajka with a rocket from 44.7 metres, the longest kill of the match. At 10:49 he added a Bio Rifle kill on Jano and at 10:52 used the Stinger on Flakjack for a Double Kill. His pressure continued without a death until 11:56: eight kills in one spree between 10:11 and 11:56. Only Jano stopped it with a rocket when hemeroid had reached 16 points.

Jano still protected the lead. After 13:33 he was ahead 20:17 over Trajbalajka, then came the longest quiet spell, 35 seconds after the 13:33 mark. Trajbalajka restarted the action with a kill on hemeroid, Jano answered, and at 14:40 he added a Double Kill on Trajbalajka. After fifteen minutes Jano had 22, Trajbalajka 20 and hemeroid 17. The match, however, was only preparing to shift into its final gear.

Two Flakjack headshots, then Trajbalajka turns it

At 15:31 and 15:34 Flakjack collected two clean Sniper Rifle headshots, first on Jano and then on Trajbalajka; the second shot also completed a Double Kill. Jano remained narrowly in front and at 17:10 held 24 points to Trajbalajka's 23. But his Rocket Launcher was a double-edged weapon. He scored 34 kills with it across the match, yet also accumulated nine suicides, and those deductions became painfully expensive in a close finish.

The decisive swing came at 18:20. Trajbalajka dropped hemeroid with the Stinger, jumped to 26 and produced the fourth lead change of the match, with Jano on 25. Jano tied it 26:26 at 18:49, but fifteen seconds later a Rocket Launcher suicide pushed him back to 25. Trajbalajka took the opening. At 19:26 he killed hemeroid with a rocket, then continued after hemeroid's three-kill push near the finish, and at 20:04 hit Jano for 28:26. Jano cut the gap, but Trajbalajka struck him again at 20:25 and at 20:42 landed the last rocket from 12.2 metres. Point thirty, match over, 30:27.

Match moments

• Trajbalajka scored first blood at 0:06 with the Ultra Instagib Rifle on Flakjack.
• The lead changed four times: Trajbalajka, Flakjack, back to Trajbalajka, then Jano and finally Trajbalajka again.
• Flakjack chained Link Gun, Link Gun and Shock Combo from 9:02 to 9:08 for a Multi Kill.
• hemeroid hit Trajbalajka with a Rocket Launcher from 44.7 metres, the longest kill of the match.
• hemeroid's longest spree reached eight kills and was stopped by Jano at 11:56.
• Flakjack recorded both headshots of the match within three seconds.
• Trajbalajka took the lead at 18:20 and never let Jano regain it after the 26:26 tie.
• Trajbalajka scored the winning point for 30:27 with a Rocket Launcher at 20:42.

Devastation ultimately rewarded the player who survived his weaker spells most efficiently. Trajbalajka did not have the most kills — Jano had 36 to his 33 — but with three suicides he gave away far fewer points than Jano with nine. hemeroid supplied both the longest spree and the longest kill, while Flakjack delivered the most colourful multikill sequence and the only two headshots. When the final 143 seconds arrived, though, Trajbalajka turned a tie and one-point manoeuvring into the decisive gap. The last rocket was no longer a warning; it was the full stop on 30:27.