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KST turned CarbonFire with seven kills and won 30:24

Ampjunkie struck first and Behac owned the longest shot, but KST claimed the tempo and the Bio Rifle when it mattered.

DM-CarbonFire skipped any polite warm-up. After only 14 seconds Ampjunkie detonated KST with a Shock Combo, then three seconds later hit Behac with the Shock Rifle to complete the first Double Kill of the match. KST therefore began not as the winner, but as the first victim. That makes the final picture more striking: after 1,202 seconds he reached the 30-point limit, with Rockjock on 24 and Ampjunkie on 18. The lead changed six times, Behac produced an explosive opening half, and Vastatore joined the action later. CarbonFire became a match of distinct phases in which control had to be won more than once.

Ampjunkie lights the fuse, Behac finds the long lane

Ampjunkie controlled the opening: first blood on KST arrived at 0:14 through a Shock Combo, and at 0:17 he added Behac to move to two points with a Double Kill. Rockjock answered with the Stinger and KST replied with the Flak Cannon, but the first minutes rewarded players who could strike quickly at close range. Behac then moved to the front, peaking at 2:24 with a 56.4-metre Sniper Rifle headshot on Rockjock, the longest kill of the match. Three seconds later he dropped Ampjunkie with the Rocket Launcher, securing another Double Kill and reaching five points.

After Ampjunkie scored at 2:47, however, the arena went quiet for the longest lull of the game: 75 seconds without a kill. When combat resumed, KST began harvesting points with the Bio Rifle and twice forced Behac to die from a fall. At 4:40 KST reached five points and tied Behac, although Ampjunkie immediately answered and remained in the mix. The opening was not a reign by one player so much as a rapid exchange of temporary advantages.

KST grows into the match as Rockjock rebuilds

From the fifth minute onward KST became increasingly convincing. The Bio Rifle turned into his main working tool and eventually supplied 13 of his kills, the highest player-and-weapon total in the match. Behac still fought back hard: at 5:28 he took KST with the Flak Cannon and one second later added Ampjunkie for another Double Kill. KST responded, killed Ampjunkie at 5:39, and later reached double figures. Behac tied the lead at 10 in 7:53, but KST moved to 11 at 8:02 and began protecting the top spot more effectively.

Rockjock was quietly building a comeback of his own. The Link Gun kept feeding him points and quick retaliation; his ten revenge kills were the most in the match. At 10:48 he chained two Link Gun kills into a Double Kill and reached 12. The pace then settled at roughly three kills per minute for several minutes, slowing the movement in the standings. Behac reached 14 before his activity ended after 801 seconds, while Vastatore entered later. Heading into the decisive phase, KST sat on 15 with Rockjock close enough to make the lead anything but safe.

Seven straight kills and the decisive seventeenth minute

The key stretch ran from 13:21 to 15:56. KST killed Behac with the Bio Rifle, then sent Ampjunkie to a fall and at 14:12 hit Rockjock to take the score to 17:16. Five seconds later Vastatore also fell to the Bio Rifle. Rockjock briefly jumped to 16 at 13:23 with a sniper kill on Ampjunkie, but KST quickly reclaimed control. At 15:26 he forced Rockjock to fall, three seconds later did the same to Vastatore for a Double Kill, and a Bio Rifle kill on Vastatore at 15:51 completed a seven-kill spree. Only Ampjunkie's Sniper Rifle at 15:56 finally ended it.

Then came minute 17 and complete disorder: 11 kills, the highest rate of the match. KST surged from 22 to 27 while alternating the Bio Rifle, fall kills and the Stinger. Rockjock kept scoring with the Link Gun and Rocket Launcher, Ampjunkie repeatedly traded blows with him, and Vastatore collected the three kills that made up his final total. Rockjock still sniped KST at 28:23, but the gap was already too large. KST added point 29 by forcing Ampjunkie into a fall at 19:52, then at exactly 20:02 ended the Deathmatch with the Bio Rifle on Vastatore: 30:24.

Match moments

• Ampjunkie took first blood after 14 seconds with a Shock Combo on KST and completed a Double Kill three seconds later.
• Behac sniped Rockjock from 56.4 metres, the longest kill of the match.
• A 75-second kill drought followed the action at 2:47.
• KST produced the longest spree, seven kills from 13:21 until Ampjunkie stopped him at 15:56.
• Minute 17 delivered 11 kills and became the busiest minute of the match.
• KST closed the Deathmatch 30:24 with a Bio Rifle kill on Vastatore at 20:02.

The final 30:24 looks cleaner on paper than the match felt in real time. KST had to survive Ampjunkie's fast opening, Behac's long-range statement and Rockjock's late recovery. The separation only appeared when KST combined Bio Rifle control, repeated fall kills and his seven-kill spree into one sustained phase. Rockjock remained active to the end and still collected late points, but the cushion had become large enough. CarbonFire therefore rewarded the player who did not start best, but who assembled the strongest finish.