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hemeroid breaks Rankin late and wins the firefight

Seven lead changes, five-kill streaks and a finish where hemeroid turned patience into point thirty.

DM-Rankin-2010 began oddly: after one second Mlatic recorded a suicide and immediately disappeared from the match. The real first blood came at 30 seconds, when Raketak caught Nanoblack at close range with the Impact Hammer. From there the Normal Deathmatch hardly slowed down. Raketak, Telefrag and hemeroid traded the lead early, while Jano had to climb back from negative score after a Flak Cannon suicide. Seven official lead changes tell only part of the story, because ties and one-point swings were constant. Behind all that movement, hemeroid was building the decisive pattern: not always the hottest player in a given minute, but close enough to punish every opening later.

Raketak strikes first, Telefrag catches fire

Raketak followed first blood with an early edge. At 64 seconds he dropped hemeroid with the Shock Rifle, then reached four points through a Link Gun Double Kill. hemeroid answered with precision: a 54.8-meter Bio Rifle kill on Raketak and a Flak Cannon kill on Telefrag kept him attached to the leaders. Jano, meanwhile, was still paying for his early suicide and had to work back from below zero.

Then Telefrag produced the sharpest streak of the match. From 133 to 172 seconds he scored five consecutive kills, including two Sniper Rifle shots: Nanoblack from 68 meters and Raketak four seconds later from 31.5 meters for a Multi Kill. The 68-meter shot remained the longest kill of the match. hemeroid finally ended the spree with a Rocket Launcher kill at 172 seconds, preventing Telefrag from turning a burst into a runaway lead.

Minute five: fourteen kills and a crowded summit

The pace peaked in the fifth minute with 14 kills, the busiest minute of the entire match. Telefrag held the front, Raketak pushed with Link Gun and rockets, and hemeroid kept adding points in shorter, steadier bursts. At 239 seconds Telefrag had ten points, two ahead of both hemeroid and Raketak. With margins that small, every direct duel among the front three changed the value of the next kill.

Raketak then seized the initiative. Between 339 and 357 seconds he killed Telefrag, hemeroid, Jano and Nanoblack; the last two shots completed a Double Kill and Multi Kill and moved him to 17 points, three clear of hemeroid. Jano answered immediately with a rocket on Raketak and then killed hemeroid, but another self-kill at 385 seconds cost him again. His four suicides across the match explain why 23 total kills translated into only 19 score.

hemeroid takes control and refuses to yield

The middle phase became a test of survival in close quarters. hemeroid mixed Rocket Launcher, Bio Rifle, Flak Cannon and Link Gun, reaching 20 points at 526 seconds. Raketak had 19 and Telefrag 18. The decisive gap did not come from one huge multikill; it came from hemeroid repeatedly finding the next point after each exchange. His average life was only 30 seconds, shorter than Raketak's 43, yet his returns to combat were more productive.

Nanoblack and Jano kept disrupting everyone. Each recorded seven immediate revenge kills, the most in the match, so even successful leaders rarely got a quiet reset. Nanoblack hit hemeroid several times late with Stinger and Link Gun, while Jano leaned on Rocket Launcher and Flak Cannon. Neither converted pressure into stable leadership. By 599 seconds hemeroid led Raketak 22:20, and after 610 seconds he had 23 to Telefrag's 20.

Final two minutes: rockets, Stinger and point thirty

From 651 seconds on, hemeroid's edge shifted from advantage to control. Raketak still scored on Nanoblack and Krallbait, Telefrag remained within reach, and Nanoblack assembled a late run against hemeroid and Jano, but the leader kept answering. He killed Jano twice, then Telefrag with Flak Cannon, then Jano again at 717. A Rocket Launcher kill on Krallbait at 730 made it 28 points and left the challengers needing an almost perfect finish.

Nanoblack stopped hemeroid at 743, but there was too little time left. At 768 hemeroid used a rocket on Jano for point 29. Raketak reached 25 at 780 and locked up second place, but the last word belonged to the leader: at 795 seconds hemeroid hit Raketak with the Bio Rifle from 27.8 meters. Point thirty ended the 796-second match at 30:25:23:22:19:13, with Mlatic still at -1.

Match moments

• Raketak scored first blood at 30 seconds with the Impact Hammer on Nanoblack.
• Telefrag's five-kill streak from 133 to 172 seconds included the match-long 68-meter shot.
• Minute five produced a match-high 14 kills and the greatest congestion at the top.
• Raketak's run from 339 to 357 seconds carried him to 17 points and a temporary three-point lead.
• hemeroid reached 20 at 526 seconds and then established lasting control.
• Nanoblack and Jano each logged seven immediate revenge kills, the best mark in the match.
• hemeroid finished at 795 seconds with a Bio Rifle kill on Raketak for 30:25.

The 30:25 final looks calmer on paper than the 796 seconds that produced it. Raketak had the best start, Telefrag owned the flashiest spree and the longest shot, while Nanoblack and Jano constantly returned fire through revenge kills. hemeroid, however, mastered the most important segment. After the halfway point he stopped merely following the leaders and started setting the pace. Ten Rocket Launcher kills were backed by six with Bio Rifle and six with Flak Cannon, so he never depended on a single weapon. Near the 30-point limit he stayed composed, and fittingly the final kill came against his closest pursuer. Rankin rewarded the player who assembled the most complete sequence of answers rather than one spectacular burst.