Tournament Cards: Alliance Tournament All Stars

In claiming the title of the first ever Alliance Tournament Champions, Band of Brothers began the first great Tournament dynasty. They would remain undefeated in tournament play for the next two years.

Making their mark in the first ever Alliance Tournament, Kaos Empire won victory after victory with stunning efficiency and coordination. After defeating well respected opponents like Red Alliance and The Five, Kaos finally met their match in a nailbiter final match against Band of Brothers, winning the first ever Alliance Tournament Silver Medal.

Establishing themselves as the dominant force in the early tournament years, Band of Brothers had a stellar run in the Second Alliance Tournament capped off with their victory in the first and only Tournament final decided by a 1v1 Interceptor duel tiebreaker.

Band of Brothers ensured their place in Alliance Tournament history by securing the gold medal in the Third Alliance Tournament. Their three consecutive victories stands as a record that has been tied, but never broken as of YC 115.

Cult of War stunned the population of New Eden in their quarter-final match of the Third Alliance Tournament against Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate when they destroyed IAC's rare and priceless Apocalypse Imperial Issue live on air. The dramatic destruction of this legendary vessel has gone down as one of the memorable moments in Alliance Tournament history.

The Guiding Hand Social Club and Tyrrax Thorrk have flown in the Tournament under multiple alliance banners. They have had a strong presence in the Alliance Tournament from the beginning, including a semi-final performance for their Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate team in the Second Alliance Tournament. However it is their ATIII IAC team that made the biggest mark on history. Building their core strategy around cap warfare supported by the massive capacitor pool of a rare and priceless Apocalypse Imperial Issue, IAC made short work of most opponents until facing off against Cult of War who managed to counter the IAC nosferatu and destroy the Apocalypse Imperial Issue to the amazement of the crowd. No Tournament team before or since has put such a rare ship on the line in their pursuit of victory.

HUN Reloaded came out of nowhere to dominate and win the Fourth Alliance Tournament using a novel and effective strategy based around stealth bombers. This performance forever cemented the role of creative setup design as a key focus of top contender teams.

Entering the Tournament world with a bang, Pandemic Legion's first ever team took great advantage of sensor dampener tactics to go on an impressive run to the finals, knocking out Tournament stalwarts Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate, ending The Star Fraction's string of heroic victories, and defeating a Terra Incognita. team full of legendary PVP pilots. They were swiftly defeated in the finals by HUN Reloaded, but this early silver medal would turn out to be a portent of future success.

By the time the Fourth Alliance Tournament began, many pundits in New Eden considered the Band of Brothers team unstoppable. After three years of undefeated dominance and running a team setup claimed as “unbeatable” by their captain, it seemed like nobody could defeat Band of Brothers. That is, until the former champions came up against the The Star Fraction on the final day of the tournament. With a swift charge of Thorax cruisers in one of the most memorable matches to ever grace EVE TV, The Star Fraction defeated the undefeatable and ended the first great Tournament dynasty.

Newcomers a year before in the Eighth Alliance Tournament, DarkSide. had quickly made a name for themselves with a quarter-final performance that year. In the Ninth Alliance Tournament they catapulted themselves into Tournament history by ending the reign of Pandemic Legion and knocking them out in convincing fashion. In one fell swoop they blew the Tournament field wide open and made Shadoo the happiest man in the world.

After a bitter finals defeat the previous year, HYDRA RELOADED entered the Ninth Alliance Tournament with something to prove. They played the field and metagame masterfully, shrugging aside all their opponents and ensuring a first-second place finish for themselves and their close allies in Outbreak.. A botched attempt to put on a show finals created controversy and forced changes to future Tournament rules, but the skill and dedication of the pilots in these two alliances was undeniable.

After an excellent run that included victories over defending champions HUN Reloaded in the quarter-finals and upstart contender Cry Havoc. in the semi-finals, Ev0ke took the gold medal in the Fifth Alliance Tournament with a viscous Rupture charge in one of the most exciting finals in Tournament history.

Well known PVP alliance Triumvirate. entered the Fifth Alliance Tournament with high expectations and did not disappoint. Triumvirate. relied on Battleships supported by Disruption Frigates for many victories, including a nail-biter semi-final win over Pandemic Legion. They were narrowly defeated by Ev0ke's Rupture Cruisers in one of the closest and most exciting finals in Tournament history.

After narrowly missing the crown in the Fourth and Fifth Tournaments, Pandemic Legion began their run of championships with an spectacularly close victory over the venerable R.U.R. in the finals.

Alternating between the alliances R.U.R. and THE R0NIN but remaining a powerful Tournament threat, the members of R.U.R. are the most accomplished tournament team to not yet have a Gold medal (as of YC 115). One of their many strong performances was in the Sixth Alliance Tournament where their impressive run was only ended by Pandemic Legion in an extremely memorable final match that came down to the wire.

Firmly establishing themselves as one of the great Tournament dynasties, Pandemic Legion appeared to effortlessly push aside their competition in the Seventh Alliance Tournament, punctuated by masterful use of the underrated stealth bombers.

Emerging as a new powerhouse on the Tournament landscape, the HYDRA RELOADED team in the Eighth Alliance Tournament easily stood out from the pack both on and off the field. They crushed all opposition until the finals, and their metagame duels of will with arch-nemesis Pandemic Legion between the matches became the stuff of legend. Although defeated by Pandemic Legion in the finals, they would eventually have their revenge in the subsequent year.

In the Eighth Alliance Tournament Pandemic Legion became the first alliance to tie the Band of Brothers record with three consecutive gold medals. Their dominant performance was capped off with a finals victory over the emerging Tournament superpower of HYDRA RELOADED.

After their victory in the Fourth Alliance Tournament, HUN Reloaded had struggled to return to the top tier of teams for years. By the Tenth Alliance Tournament many had begun to discount them as old news. They proved their stature as long-term Tournament heavyweights with a brilliant performance in ATX, riding a versatile core of Vargur Marauders with ever-shifting support to the finals, including a strategic outmaneuvering of Pandemic Legion in the semi-finals. They will be looking to improve on their Silver medal performance in YC 115’s ATXI and return to the pinnacle they once ruled.

Underestimated all throughout the Tenth Alliance Tournament, Verge of Collapse proved the power of the underdog with their stunning victories over such heavyweights as DarkSide., Goonswarm Federation, Rote Kapelle, Mildly Intoxicated and Exodus.. Their victory over HUN Reloaded in the finals demonstrated their mastery of the format, and it is unlikely that anyone will underestimate them again.