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Jano Rockets to Deck16 Victory After Six Lead Changes

Six changes at the top, a four-kill streak and one rocket with the final say.

Five contenders, a 30-point target and 18 minutes 39 seconds: DM-Deck16]I[ offered a full evening of surprises in Normal Deathmatch. It was never a comfortable procession. The lead changed hands six times, and the opening minutes belonged to anyone fast enough to collect the next frag. Jano eventually won with 30 points, ahead of Masakr on 19, Rachot on 17, Deckrat on 16 and Palic on 7. Yet the winner had to score 35 kills to reach that total because five self-inflicted deaths took five points straight back. For anyone convinced that rockets solve every problem, this match also demonstrated their impressive ability to create new ones.

First blood, then a revolving door at the top

At 21 seconds Jano wrote the opening line: Deckrat fell to a Rocket Launcher shot from 18.2 metres. Ten seconds later Masakr hit Jano with a Flak Cannon from just three metres. Rachot joined the scramble with a rocket on Masakr at 45 seconds, moving to two points. By 89 seconds Rachot had three, although Jano shot him with another rocket that very second.

The Sniper Rifle eliminated Jano at 168 and 174 seconds and Rachot at 188, putting Masakr on seven while Jano had five. Jano answered with a Rocket Launcher kill on Masakr at 191 seconds to reach six. At 145 seconds he and Masakr even registered kills against each other at the same instant. On Deck16, being the last to fire did not always mean being the last one standing.

Rachot attacks, the slime collects its taxes

He rocketed Jano at 328 seconds and sent Deckrat down with a Flak Cannon seven seconds later, reaching ten against Jano’s eight. At 359 seconds another Flak kill against Jano raised Rachot to eleven. Jano had only just lost a point to slime at 349 seconds, and he was not alone in paying for mistakes. Masakr blew himself up with a Redeemer at 292 seconds; the CampKiller penalty then deducted points from him at 454 and 482 seconds.

Jano moved to ten with a Flak kill on Masakr at 390 seconds. Deckrat fought back against Rachot with rockets and a Redeemer, while Masakr killed Rachot with a Redeemer at 524 seconds but also destroyed himself at that same timestamp. The longest quiet stretch followed the action at 524 seconds: 39 seconds passed without another kill.

The Redeemer changes the arithmetic

Rachot earned his fourteenth point at 612 seconds, but Jano answered him with a rocket at 619. Then came the defining sequence at 657 seconds: Jano’s Redeemer killed Masakr from 42.2 metres and Deckrat from 62.6 metres. The second blast was logged as a Double Kill and left Jano on fifteen points. He added Masakr with rockets at 666 and 689 seconds. It was a four-kill spree spanning 657 to 697 seconds, and only Rachot, landing a Flak Cannon hit at 697, finally stopped it.

Jano expanded the gap despite further rocket suicides at 643 and 738 seconds. He had nineteen at 760 seconds and twenty after hitting Palic at 798. Palic played just 350 seconds but brought a fresh set of collisions to the closing stretch. The fourteenth minute was the busiest of the match, with eight kills. It included a Deckrat Double Kill with Flak Cannon, dropping Rachot at 834 and Jano at 835 seconds. Deckrat had already completed another Double Kill at 782 seconds, this one finished with a slime kill against Masakr.

The finish: rocket fire and accidental fireworks

Jano passed 23 and reached 25 points by shooting Masakr at 933 seconds. At 970 seconds he struck Jano with a Shock Rifle from 65.8 metres, the longest confirmed kill of the match, before hitting Palic three seconds later for a Double Kill. But at 986 seconds his own Shock Rifle cost him a point. Jano rocketed Masakr at 1017 seconds for point 27 and eliminated Palic at 1038 seconds for point 28.

At 1052 seconds Jano killed Rachot with a Redeemer and rose to 29. A second later he was caught by his own explosion and dropped back to 28. Palic followed with a Flak hit, Masakr added a Shock Combo at 1078, and Rachot struck with Flak Cannon at 1092. Jano rocketed Palic at 1102 seconds to regain 29 and then hit Masakr with the Rocket Launcher at precisely 1119 seconds. Final score: 30 to 19.

Match moments

• Jano drew first blood on Deckrat at 21 seconds with the Rocket Launcher.
• Masakr registered three Sniper Rifle kills between 168 and 188 seconds.
• At 359 seconds Rachot had eleven points while Jano had only eight.
• At 657 seconds Jano used a Redeemer to kill Masakr and Deckrat in a Double Kill.
• Rachot ended Jano’s four-kill streak at 697 seconds.
• Masakr hit Jano with a Shock Rifle from 65.8 metres at 970 seconds.
• After slipping from 29 to 28 through a Redeemer suicide, Jano won with the final kill at 1119 seconds.

The scoreboard settled on Jano 30, Masakr 19, Rachot 17, Deckrat 16 and Palic 7, but those numbers barely describe the cost of getting there. Jano managed ten immediate revenge kills, Deckrat eight, Masakr six, Rachot five and Palic three. Jano’s average kill distance was 16.3 metres and his average life lasted 36 seconds; Deckrat averaged 39 seconds and Palic 43. Surviving longest was not the deciding skill. Recovering initiative after a death, repeatedly and without hesitation, was the difference. Deck16 rewarded stubborn answers rather than spotless performances, and the final answer arrived in the shape of a rocket.