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Vulgarus Conquers Gateway With a Thirteen-Kill Run

They hit him first; Vulgarus then decided the rest of Gateway belonged to him.

DM-Gateway began more quietly than its later ammunition bill suggested. Nothing scored during the first 34 seconds, then freedie00 dropped Vulgarus with the Link Gun for the authoritative first blood. The eventual winner therefore started as the first victim, which in Unreal Tournament 3 is often merely a polite way of lending everyone else false hope. The next nearly twenty-four minutes delivered three lead changes, repeated ties, two suicides by freedie00, one each by Municak and Zerker, two headshots, and one streak that turned a balanced Deathmatch into a very clear verdict.

First blood and a swinging scoreboard

After the opener, freedie00 added another Link Gun kill on Vulgarus at 96 seconds and held a 2–1 edge. Vulgarus answered, Zerker entered the argument with two quick kills, and at 139 seconds freedie00 used the Stinger on Municak to move to 3 while his closest pursuers had 2. The score kept knotting itself: Vulgarus made it 3–3 with a Shock Combo at 167 seconds, and fourteen seconds later Vulgarus, freedie00 and Zerker all stood on three.

Vulgarus first took sole control at 202 seconds, using the Flak Cannon on Zerker for a 4–3 lead. Two Stinger kills on Municak carried freedie00 back in front at 5–4, but Vulgarus tied him with the Link Gun at 275 seconds. The decisive lead change arrived at 335: a 38.6-metre Shock Rifle hit removed freedie00 and put Vulgarus ahead 6–5. He never surrendered first place again, although the path was anything but comfortable.

Municak presses, the Shock Rifle answers

The middle of the match became a loud three-way dispute. Municak scored with the Shock Rifle and Rocket Launcher, cutting the gap against Vulgarus to 6–7 at 424 seconds and later remaining close behind. Vulgarus mixed the Link Gun, Shock Combo, Sniper Rifle and Stinger; at 604 seconds he landed his first headshot on Municak and reached ten. Municak closed to 9–10 at 652, but Vulgarus immediately accelerated through Zerker and Municak, reaching 13 by 714 seconds while freedie00 sat on 8.

Municak refused to disappear. He killed Vulgarus with the Link Gun from 1.6 metres at 756 seconds, then removed freedie00 with the Rocket Launcher at 802 and reached 12. One second later came the cold reply: Vulgarus headshot him with the Sniper Rifle from 31.2 metres and moved to 15. Vulgarus versus Municak remained a major thread, but the fiercest rivalry was Vulgarus against Zerker: their encounters produced 19 kills, twelve for Vulgarus and seven for Zerker.

Silence before the thirteen-kill storm

At 836 seconds Zerker stopped Vulgarus with a Shock Combo, yet the decisive phase began ten seconds later. Vulgarus hit Zerker with the Shock Rifle, then Municak with the same weapon and Zerker with the Stinger. freedie00 collected points with the Enforcer, but after his kill on Zerker at 909 seconds the match entered its longest dry spell: exactly 93 seconds without a kill. Gateway briefly caught its breath, probably for the first and last time.

At 1002 seconds the action returned with two kills stamped at the same time: Vulgarus used a Shock Combo on Zerker while Municak's Shock Rifle removed freedie00. For Vulgarus it was the fourth kill of a run that had started at 846 seconds. His average life lasted 88 seconds, the best figure in the match; Zerker managed 59, Municak 56 and freedie00 40. Staying alive between exchanges let the leader select weapons for the next range instead of constantly rebuilding from a fresh spawn.

The streak that broke the table

From 1029 seconds onward Vulgarus showed no mercy: Stinger on Municak, Stinger and Rocket Launcher on freedie00, then more hits on Zerker and Municak. By 1199 he held 25 points while Municak had 14 and Zerker 8. Vulgarus was not relying on one trick. His thirty kills were spread across the Shock Rifle, Stinger, Link Gun, Shock Combo, Rocket Launcher, Flak Cannon, Sniper Rifle and Bio Rifle, keeping every opponent without a comfortable defensive formula.

The peak came between 1233 and 1236 seconds. Vulgarus first dropped Municak with the Stinger from 31.1 metres, then three seconds later erased Zerker with a Shock Combo for the match's only Double Kill. A Rocket Launcher kill on freedie00 followed and took him to 28. The thirteen-kill spree ran from 846 to 1284 seconds, when Zerker finally ended it with the Stinger. This was not decorative statistics: the sequence turned a narrow lead into a gap the final standings could not close.

Six kills in a minute and a shot through space

The closing phase brought new participants and old debts. At 1303 seconds Kegger used the Enforcer to remove Strelko, who played only 44 seconds before leaving. Municak then killed Zerker three times in a short span, Zerker answered with the Bio Rifle at 1350, and Municak replied eight seconds later with the Flak Cannon. The twenty-third minute was the busiest with six kills; across the full match, tempo ranged from one to six kills per minute.

Kegger killed Vulgarus with the Shock Rifle at 1362, but revenge took only three seconds. Vulgarus hit Kegger with the same weapon from a recorded 2,494.3 metres, the longest kill of the match and a number that could make a Sniper Rifle cough politely. It was also one of Vulgarus's twelve immediate revenge kills; freedie00 had seven, Zerker six and Municak four. Zerker still rocketed Kegger, but Vulgarus owned the last word: at 1417 seconds the Flak Cannon produced point thirty and sealed the 30–22 result.

Match moments

• freedie00 claimed first blood at 34 seconds with the Link Gun against Vulgarus.
• Vulgarus took the lead for good at 335 seconds with a Shock Rifle hit on freedie00.
• Vulgarus landed two sniper headshots, at 604 and 803 seconds, both on Municak.
• The kill at 909 seconds was followed by the match's longest pause, 93 seconds.
• Vulgarus built a 13-kill spree from 846 to 1284 seconds before Zerker ended it.
• The match's only Double Kill came from Vulgarus's Shock Combo on Zerker at 1236 seconds.
• Minute 23 was the busiest with six kills.
• Vulgarus's Shock Rifle kill on Kegger measured a record 2,494.3 metres.

The final table gave Vulgarus 30 points, freedie00 finished second with 22 and Municak third with 18. Zerker collected 12, Kegger two and Strelko remained on zero. The best explanation lies in the contrast: freedie00 opened the scoring and sustained pressure, Municak punished with rockets and flak, and Zerker killed the winner seven times, yet Vulgarus survived longest on average, dealt 6,253 damage and fused precision, weapon choice and revenge into the decisive run that made Gateway recognise its master.