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Jano rules DM-Deck with rockets and a wild slime finale

The lead never changed, but the route to thirty points was anything but quiet.

Four competitors entered DM-Deck for a Normal Deathmatch with a thirty-point target: Jano, Prestrelka, Smrtak and Liandrik. Over 19 minutes and one second, rockets, close-range Flak Cannon exchanges and some highly unfortunate self-inflicted deaths defined the score. Jano eventually finished on 30 points, Prestrelka on 12, and Smrtak and Liandrik on eight each. That comfortable margin conceals a much livelier story. A Double Kill briefly produced a tie, one rival repeatedly interrupted the eventual champion, and the deadliest obstacle was occasionally the player's own weapon. Most remarkably, the longest recorded kill came on the final shot, from a cause not normally associated with careful long-distance marksmanship.

First blood and an immediate challenge

At 40 seconds, Jano fired the opening Rocket Launcher kill into Liandrik from 9.3 metres. It was the official first blood, and at 63 seconds another rocket removed Smrtak. Prestrelka answered almost immediately: a Link Gun kill on Liandrik at 67 seconds, followed by a Shock Rifle kill on Jano at 69. That second hit registered a Double Kill and tied the score at 2–2. Still, the match statistics record zero lead changes. A tie made the contest interesting; it never produced a new leader.

The arena was already taxing its residents in stranger ways. Smrtak lost a point to Slime at 59 seconds, Prestrelka did likewise at 71, and Liandrik fell to their own Flak Cannon at 88. At 128 seconds, a Redeemer blast killed Jano as well as Liandrik, leaving a particularly complicated entry on the scoreboard. Jano then took down Prestrelka with a Bio Rifle at 148 seconds and Liandrik with rockets at 163 and 171. The first few minutes offered two simultaneous contests: hit your opponent and, preferably, avoid hitting yourself.

Five straight kills meet a firm objection

The computed statistics credit Jano with the longest spree: five successive enemy kills from 128 to 227 seconds. Liandrik was a repeated target, and a 29.4-metre rocket took out Prestrelka at 221 seconds. Jano had reached five points by 171 seconds and six by 221, a margin that would eventually become decisive. Smrtak then interrupted the run with a Link Gun kill against Jano at 227 seconds. It was no isolated nuisance: Smrtak remained one of the most troublesome opponents in direct encounters with the winner, despite being far behind on total points.

For Smrtak, however, aggressive moments came with painful deductions. A Bio Rifle self-kill at 214 seconds undercut the recovery, even though a Redeemer hit removed Prestrelka at 253. Jano continued steadily, reaching nine points when a rocket caught Smrtak at 294 seconds; he survived that elimination with just five health points. Prestrelka answered from 48.1 metres with a rocket against Jano at 321 seconds, but Jano scored his tenth point on Liandrik one second later. The fifth minute saw six enemy kills, tying the peak rate visible in the minute-by-minute record.

Double Kills cannot reverse the flow

Jano reached 12 points by hitting Prestrelka with a Redeemer at 397 seconds. Smrtak put together a rocket Double Kill: first Liandrik at 408 seconds, then Jano at 410, and added another Link Gun kill on Jano at 455. At 502 seconds, Smrtak's Redeemer killed both Jano and Smrtak, making the exchange less profitable than its spectacle suggested. Jano responded by using the Bio Rifle on Liandrik and Smrtak to reach 15 points at 518 seconds. The halfway mark in the scoring race had arrived without any change at the top.

Prestrelka struck with a Flak Cannon at 566 and 570 seconds, beating Jano and Liandrik. Liandrik answered with two Flak Cannon kills at 599 and 601 seconds, the second being a Double Kill against Smrtak. Jano nevertheless climbed through 17, 18 and 19 points; even a Sniper Rifle shot from Smrtak and a Link Gun hit from Liandrik could not derail the advance. At 735 seconds, Jano scored number 20 by launching a Redeemer at Smrtak from 52.5 metres. The challengers were producing highlight moments, but not enough connected scoring runs to threaten the lead.

A bizarre winner from 62.8 metres

The later stretch included the longest gap between enemy kills: 52 seconds after the event at 768 seconds. Prestrelka then produced a spectacular long-distance response, hitting Jano with a Stinger from 61 metres at 896 seconds. Three seconds later, Jano retaliated with a Redeemer kill on Prestrelka to reach 24–12. He added another point against that rival at 927 seconds and climbed to 26 against Liandrik at 964. Smrtak kept fighting: kills on Jano at 1008 and Prestrelka at 1011, the latter with Shock Combo, completed another Double Kill.

The finish was not completely smooth for Jano. Rockets against Prestrelka and Smrtak gave him 28 points, but a Rocket Launcher self-kill at 1045 dropped him to 27. He fought back through an Enforcer kill and another rocket against Liandrik to reach 29, only to lose another point to his own rocket at 1102. Prestrelka killed Liandrik with a Redeemer at 1104, then suffered a Redeemer self-kill one second later. Jano returned to 29 at 1114 seconds, was killed by Smrtak and then Liandrik, and finally found the winning point at 1140 seconds. The victim was Prestrelka, the recorded cause was Slime and the distance was 62.8 metres: the longest kill of the match, ending it 30–12.

Match moments

• Jano drew first blood with a rocket against Liandrik at 40 seconds.
• Prestrelka tied the score 2–2 with a Double Kill at 69 seconds.
• Smrtak ended the five-kill spree by Jano with a Link Gun at 227 seconds.
• Smrtak completed a rocket Double Kill against Jano at 410 seconds.
• Liandrik secured a Flak Cannon Double Kill at 601 seconds.
• Prestrelka hit Jano with a Stinger from 61 metres at 896 seconds.
• Smrtak registered a Shock Combo Double Kill at 1011 seconds.
• Jano beat Prestrelka with a 62.8-metre Slime kill at 1140 seconds to win 30–12.

After 1,141 seconds, the score stood at 30 for Jano, 12 for Prestrelka, and eight each for Smrtak and Liandrik. The winner logged 33 enemy kills but lost three points to self-kills. Prestrelka scored 18 kills with six self-kills; Smrtak had 17 and nine, while Liandrik recorded 13 and five. That explains why the scoreboard is not simply a tally of eliminated opponents. the score of Jano 18 Rocket Launcher kills, five-kill spree and ten immediate revenge kills made the bigger difference. Smrtak even beat him 10–8 in their head-to-head encounters, yet consistency across all opponents decided the match. Slime, improbably, received the final word.