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Flakjack rules Rankin after a seven-kill opening run

Flakjack set Rankin alight, Zasah briefly stole the lead, and oMgo joined the chase only after an ice-cold start.

DM-Rankin-2010 opened without any polite warm-up. After only 11 seconds, Flakjack dropped oMgo with the Link Gun, taking first blood and the first point. Zasah immediately showed he would not be background scenery: at 0:34 he hit oMgo with the Sniper Rifle, then fourteen seconds later finished him with the Flak Cannon to lead 2:1. It was brief, but it was a real turnaround. Flakjack answered exactly as the eventual winner needed to—he started scoring again at 1:10, reclaimed first place at 1:13 and never surrendered the lead again.

First three minutes: the lead moved, Flakjack did not

First blood belonged to Flakjack at 0:11, but Zasah tied it 1:1 and at 0:48 moved ahead 2:1 with a close-range Flak Cannon kill. That produced the first of the match's two lead changes. At 1:10 Flakjack rocketed Zasah to make it 2:2, then three seconds later killed oMgo with the Link Gun. That hit was also a Double Kill and put Flakjack ahead 3:2—the second and final lead change was complete.

Then came the run that defined the match. Flakjack scored on oMgo at 1:36, hit Zasah twice in a row with the Flak Cannon, and added a Rocket Launcher kill on oMgo at 2:23. At 7:2:0 he already had breathing room, and his opening streak had reached seven kills. Zasah finally ended it at 2:25 with the Link Gun. The computed data marks the third minute as the busiest, with five kills. The match was moving so quickly that the scoreboard barely had time to look calm.

Middle phase: Flakjack builds, oMgo wakes up

oMgo had to wait until 4:17 for his first point, when he killed Zasah with the Link Gun. By then Flakjack was already on nine, and fourteen seconds later he made it ten. More points followed through the Link Gun, Flak Cannon and Shock Rifle. At 6:08 Flakjack led 14:5:3, making it clear that his advantage was not just one hot streak but repeated control of individual fights.

Zasah meanwhile protected second place and repeatedly punished oMgo. At 8:25 he caught Flakjack with the Shock Rifle while surviving on only two health, one of the narrowest escapes of the match. oMgo started taking points from the leader with the Stinger and Rocket Launcher. Flakjack kept answering; he recorded 13 immediate revenge kills, the most of anyone. His average life lasted 82 seconds, compared with 48 for oMgo and 53 for Zasah, a major reason he could stabilize more quickly after exchanges.

The pack tightens: oMgo rockets and a long silence

From 12:19 came oMgo's best spell. In nineteen seconds he killed Flakjack three straight times—with the Link Gun, Flak Cannon and Rocket Launcher—moving from 5 to 8 while Flakjack stayed on 18. It did not threaten first place, but it was the first unmistakable sign that second place would not be awarded by paperwork. Then the arena went quiet for 103 seconds: after the kill at 12:38, nobody scored again until 14:21, the longest pause of the match.

The pace rose again after the break. oMgo leaned heavily on the Rocket Launcher, which supplied nine of his twenty kills, and his 16.6-metre average kill distance was the highest in the match. Zasah remained dangerous at shorter range with the Link Gun and Flak Cannon. When oMgo reached 15 points at 17:50 and tied Zasah, the fight for second became a match within the match. Flakjack was already on 20 and still had space, but the pursuers were finally scoring at the same tempo.

Finish: the Link Gun closes the door

The last four minutes brought dense trading. Flakjack scored quickly with the Link Gun at 18:51 and 18:55; the second shot killed Zasah from 41.9 metres, the longest kill of the entire match. oMgo answered with rockets and the Stinger, Zasah stayed within reach, but the leader kept moving one step at a time: 23, 24, 25. At 20:49 Zasah slowed him with a Link Gun kill, while oMgo had taken second and by 21:05 led Zasah 19:18.

The decisive push started at 21:45. Flakjack killed oMgo with the Link Gun for 26:19, added Zasah ten seconds later, then oMgo again six seconds after that. Zasah cut his own deficit at 22:47 to reach 19, but Flakjack was already on 28. At 22:56 a rocket made it 29:20, and exactly at 23:14 he finished the match the same way he had started it—with the Link Gun against oMgo. The final score was a clear 30:20:19. Flakjack did not win through one lucky multikill; he won by holding first place for more than twenty minutes after one brief early wobble.

Match moments

• Flakjack took first blood at 0:11 with the Link Gun against oMgo.
• Zasah moved ahead 2:1 at 0:48, but Flakjack retook the lead for good at 1:13.
• Flakjack's seven-kill spree lasted from 0:11 to 2:25 and was ended by Zasah.
• The third minute produced five kills and was the busiest minute of the match.
• From 12:19 to 12:38, oMgo killed Flakjack three times in a row and revived the fight for second.
• After 12:38 came the longest scoring drought: 103 seconds without a kill.
• At 18:55 Flakjack killed Zasah with the Link Gun from 41.9 metres, the match's longest kill.
• The final kill at 23:14 was Flakjack's Link Gun hit on oMgo, closing the score at 30:20:19.

Rankin ultimately did not reward the highest damage total—oMgo had that with 5,302—but the ability to turn fights into stable scoring. Flakjack finished with 30 kills, only 16 deaths and the longest average life, while exactly half of his kills came from the Link Gun. Zasah held pressure on second place for a long time, but oMgo passed him by a single point late. After two early lead changes, a chaotic opening became a match with a very stable leader and a dramatic race immediately behind him.