Undefeated Advance Wars Champion Enters Tournament

[@mathblitz2994]

Alright, I have a lot of thoughts about this game, but here's just a couple: The pre-capture of the airport is an incredibly important detail for the dynamic of the map. In a normal game, you would usually only start with one non-base property precaptured (your HQ). This provides you with 1k/turn extra in funds to go towards vehicles. In this game they started with 2 (airport and HQ) accelerating the speed at which vehicles come out. This results in a massively abbreviated capture phase and early skirmishing which we can see by how many properties remained neutral even as the weak bases were falling. 18:44 The importance of this move cannot be understated. While the 5 unit sac was very flashy and game winning, this move here was just as important as the sac. Unit count is extremely important AWBW and here if VoA could have built infantry from this base rip's takeover of this part of the map would have been massively slowed down. 30:30 I agree this was the play of the game. The sac was an incredible find and I did not see this coming at all while keeping track of the game. 1-2 unit sacs to wall break are very common for high level players to plan for and see, but this many units in a chaotic game state is something very few players would even consider let alone find. The net result of the above two actions was a massive acceleration of rip's take over of the weak base compared to VoA. The result was that rip maintained a 6-10k income lead consistently over the latter parts of the game and while VoA was able use some initiative advantages and incredible tactics to come back in the game, the income deficit was too great and heavy tank spam secured the win.

[@Gatitasecsii]

I mean, when you have a literal week to take your turn, you can try anything in the move planner.

[@jonathandonovan1802]

no.

[@andregon4366]

"The importance of this move cannot be *understimated"*

[@joshuadee7423]

⁠@@andregon4366 That’s not a saying. It’s “cannot be overstated,” as in “it deserves every bit of praise you could possibly give it.” You can google it if you’re not convinced.

[@SimoneBellomonte]

@@jonathandonovan1802Whatzszrdrzsz no?

[@notZabami]

Possible reasons that Voice of Akasha barely plays: 1. He's just Grimm guy. 2. He's Just like that

[@TheRestedOne]

Grimm Guy -> GG Might be on to something.

[@M30W3R]

That final movement was absolutely insane. Going out in style is something that only a GOAT can ever do.

[@tomasziskierka9557]

I didn't except to literally see GG at the end. This is going down with style.

[@SimoneBellomonte]

Expectrdrdzsz*.

[@SimoneBellomonte]

Expectrdrdzsz*.

[@zekenotech]

Mangs has such good Charisma when it comes to commentary. When he mentioned that VoA and Incuggarch were going to face eachother at some point, I got chills up my spine like I was about to watch a UFC champion fight. I love this game so much.

[@art-games6230]

It’s basically the champion fight of advance wars

[@austin33785]

I find him insufferable.

[@zekenotech]

@@austin33785 Care to explain or did you just feel like making a rude comment?

[@jonathandonovan1802]

suffer me

[@SimoneBellomonte]

@@austin33785💀

[@original3868]

Despite losing against rip, voice of akasha won the overall bracket and the tournament. Rip lost twice against talose and incuggarch. Incuggarch and akasha have 9 points, but in the direct fight against each other, akasha won. So the trophy goes to him🏆

[@daddysmurf2266]

Spelling GG with the unites what a legend

[@ArkDShiggy]

An unmentionned impressive (but maybe not game changing) turn was day 19, where rip_ purposefully leaves no units within 2 tiles of his own HQ. You must have absolute confidence in your calculations to do something like that

[@Gatitasecsii]

I think it was in fact game-defning, as rip_ kept laying traps and baits and VoA just kept eating them all up one after the other, and when VoA didn't eat the baits, then that mean a 2k income swing in favor of rip_ This is the difference between a master and a smurf.

[@jonathandonovan1802]

suffer me

[@ColbyP4Fan]

At 31:00, without spoilers to those who read the comments before the video (The PLAY OF THE GAME for those who know) (Edit 2: Updated calcs below! This first calc is actually off, leaving just for posterity.) Attack 1: 5-6% Attack 2: 21-24% Attack 3: 6% Attack 4: 1-4% Attack 5: 63-70% Looking at min values: 5+21=26 + 6 = 32% + 1= 33%, +63= 99%. In short, he'd be 1% off if he was completely unlucky with every single attack. That extra 1% from attack 4 I think matters quite a lot to basically ensure his odds as best as possible, to 'guarantee' that it would happen. I think this was definitely all part of the calculations, IMO. Edit 2: Attack 1 (with the 10 HP infantry who had been chipped): 4-10%. A fellow viewer noted that this infantry had already taken chip damage earlier in an engagement, so it was 100% sure to die. Attack 2: 5-6% Attack 3: 21-24% Attack 4: 6% Attack 5: 1-4% Attack 6: 63-70% 4+5=9 + 21=30+6=36+1=37+63=100. A perfect 100% chance with MIN luck to have this occur. I don't know how big brain you'd have to be to analyze all of this, but this guy saw it coming for a while. A play you definitely don't see in live for sure.

[@Feyyore]

good job

[@Mangs1337]

Thanks for calcing!

[@ColbyP4Fan]

​@@Mangs1337you're welcome! Thanks for hosting/commentating this game. A very engaging one, some of my favorite stuff to date watching this high level play at work!

[@control9lcme]

Those chip damage calculations make me wonder whether it is really a good game design to not show players the exact percentage of HP left on units. It results in players (and mangs saying the same in his analysis) to think that there is luck involved even if this invisible chip damage guarantees a kill.

[@TheDanos87]

I feel that I need to point out that 33 + 63 is 96, not 99

[@Eltshan51]

One very smart move by rip is when he sees that Akasha will punch him with max Blast + the com tower, he just does an incredible tactical retreat, giving up massive land and taking a risk exposing his HQ, but not losing the game. He knew that he had an edge with funds and he had to weather the storm... but man, what incredible storm it was ! And what incredible defense ! That match was amazing.

[@ChillstoneBlakeBlast]

37:44 "It's 90% because of 60% and 3 CoMMs" *Around 10 mins Earlier* "It's 90% Because of 60%, 2 CoMM towers and Power Meter Rare case of Mangs Math being Progressional

[@pierrickbouvieraubrege5887]

These games are the proof that i can't go on advance wars by web. I would spend my life on it. It feels so intense with the commentaries of Mangs. Thank you so much to give us these videos

[@magicalcapi9148]

Regular players screwing around: *buys missiles* Voice of Akasha: *f pixel(/unit) art* what a chad

[@feasibilyheretical]

This is handsdown one of your best commentaries, such a great game! It had me hooked the entire way through can't believe an hour went by that quickly.

[@Jprime777]

This is a game that needs to be watched in fullscreen!

[@ColbyP4Fan]

Now this is what im talking about! VoA tournament gameplay? Exciting. Will def drop what im doing and focus.

[@MurtorSH]

Voice of Akasha - what a gentleman! Great game. One, if not, the best I've seen on that channel.

[@LopsidedMoz]

Sacrificing 4 units to kill a single tank is either a 700 play or a 1600 play, there isn't really an inbetween

[@ja1369]

Mangs asked for the calculations based on luck rolls have you done them yet? Such a move isnt based on mmr its based on a players strategy

[@lupvirga]

It was 5. A clipped 10 hp infiltry unit, 3 low HP tanks, and a low HP infiltry at the end.

[@CpnCrunch211]

Truly an incredible match, great plays by both sides but came down to the economy at the end. Rips play on that tank factory was nuts.

[@dropinota]

Absolutely legendary match right here. Thank you for commenting this match Mangs

[@thebrazillianguytm2186]

Spoilers ahead : Damn, this game was a blast(or a Max Blast if you will haha) I was about to say "It was sad to see VoA being defeated", but the way he ended the game spelling GG with his units was simply worth it, and poetic too

[@ManaNek]

What a treat of a match to watch! Sad that you can’t bring up damage calcs cuz it’s fun to see it done in front of you in real time 😊

[@IcerFreakyNana]

That was such a great game! And I have to absolutely agree with a comment that says your charisma on commentary makes it so good and exciting that we feel like we're going to watch an amazing match in a stadium! I can hardly wait to see the next matches.

[@jonathandonovan1802]

he look like a lego figure

[@nlald]

“Close all your other tabs.” I feel attacked.

[@dugtrioramen]

Rip is really good at ripping both his opponent's and his own units

[@disk_35]

I think it's silly to suggest VoA isn't really that good based on his MMR (not saying Mangs is doing it, he's acting as a messenger here I suppose). He is an OG awbw player and MMR has a tendency to inflate over time, 1300 in 2019 is miles ahead of 1300 in 2023. He has also had to beat a few 1500+ players to get to these finals, x123456789 included.

[@art-games6230]

Definitely, and when you only play a few games a month you simply cannot increase that much in a certain amount of time, combined with the inflation you mentioned and VOA simply cannot increase at the same rate as other top players, even though he has the skill

[@Mangs1337]

Oh I agree. I was just repeating what I've heard people say about him. Some speculate he is 1800 MMR, others say he's hardly 1400. Obviously, MMR is not the end-all be-all of a player's performance, but I think it's fair to say VoA is probably around 1600.

[@disk_35]

@@Mangs1337 Yep, he would be 1800+ if his 31 tournament games were in the global league. So I would say 1600+ is a fair guesstimate.

[@ja1369]

He didnt say he isnt really good. He said due to his mmr he hasnt gone up against the top tier opponents yet. That is a huge difference in what mangs said and what you are claiming

[@disk_35]

I'm not sure how you misunderstood my comment so poorly. "(not saying Mangs is doing it, he's acting as a messenger here I suppose)". In fact I agree with Mangs, and his and my subsequent comments replying here should have made that clear... @2:20 "Some people say oh he's quite over-rated, if he was pitched up against one of the greatest of all time he would struggle" I would say that qualifies as Mangs suggesting some people think VoA is not really all that good. Edit: My original comment is literally me agreeing with Mangs lol

[@anditwasknownas]

The best game of the year -or the decade- INDEED. By the hand of two of the best advance wars players in the WORLD brought to us by the best comentator in this field. Thank you all for making this posible, including you, the fans! Rest well our heroes. You deserve it!

[@dmtrsgrksrphl2501]

I love the atmosphere of AWBW matches

[@JSlayerXero]

My armchair observation of this match is that despite Voice of Akasha having FTA it was rip_ who was leading the whole time with VoA often following his lead on several occasions. Mind you, I'm not talking about having similar openings but around Days 6-9 or so I started to notice that rip_ seemed to be playing proactively and often forced Voice Akasha to play reactively more often than the other way around. The issue with that being that you can only win on reaction in a game like this if your opponent is so bad that you naturally advance forward while doing so, and once the two started to diverge rip_ incrementally pressured better than VoA up to and even long after the two largest plays on rip_'s part, those being blocking off VoA's east base and later on capping it. Those moments are a great example of what I mean by it felt like Voice of Akasha was following rip_'s lead. For both of those plays it was rip_ who made the strong moves first with VoA doing it second. And once rip_ pulled that off it was just a matter of keeping pressure until victory by attrition settles in. Now to be fair, Advance Wars with its CO Powers and Super CO Powers give the player who is falling behind a chance to make a big push and take control of the map and lead the other player around instead. I don't want to take that away from Voice of Akasha, those were some great plays, but the whole game there were plenty of moments where you can see that rip_, despite moving 2nd this game, was the one to take initiative. That said, it does still require a lot of skill to effectively copy your opponent mid-match, and VoA totally deserves credit for doing as well as he did and for holding out for so long after the two of their strategies started to diverge more and more.

[@goldenfox2486]

Akasha was forced to play reactively when he chose to send his second tank into the dead end in the south to fight an infantry. That is what caused his loss of tempo. When it comes to trades, he was ahead for the whole early game but lost due to his positioning, which was caused by that one early blunder.

[@HanakkoLove]

Popping max force to spell GG was HILARIOUS

[@mimizdani8194]

You inspired and I played again this time in a long while, despite being noob, i won the match cuz my opponent resigned, i just applied the basics of retreating well and with setting up nice walls.

[@Mangs1337]

Gratz!

[@mimizdani8194]

@@Mangs1337 thank you! Keep up the videos, I have been loving them so much!

[@sensha5470]

every single play of this game would be a POTG in any other match, and both players just kept repeatedly making those big plays and recovering against them. It was such a fantastic brawl from start to finish. If this is what akasha tournament games are always like I don't wanna see anything else lol

[@theoutlander1411]

One defeat doesn't mean the king loses his crown. I look forward to seeing the results from his other matches.

[@blazingswordchad3384]

You weren't kidding (though idk why you changed the title of the video, imo the first title was better) Just wow, what a game! rip is an absolute GENIUS when it comes to using wounded units, I have never seen anyone get so much value out of units that people would assume are better for nothing more than meatshields at that point. I agree with your point about where he "lost" the game in that moment (in that it put a countdown to VoA's loss unless he did something big), but I feel a mistake was done at 48:30, when he let that second Neotank go undamaged, when he could've gotten a first-strike with his Neotank (unless I'm misunderstanding unit ranges?). Plus that would've created a stronger wall, and he could've placed his tanks further back rather than basically losing them for free, and that Neotank ended up being a big deal later with breaking the final wall before VoA's capture. Though maybe that would've given rip an earlier Max Blast instead so maybe it was a moot point (still though, a wounded Neotank is a lot easier to deal with than a full HP one). I think he could've won if he did that, but maybe I'm misunderstanding. Plus rip is so good that I wouldn't be surprised that, even if his units were heavily wounded, that he'd have found a way to interrupt VoA anyways lol. Anyways, this was great, thanks for posting this Mangs. Even if legends do eventually fall, that was one heck of a way to go out, I wish it could've lasted a bit longer, but who knows, he might still win the tournament so that would be hilarious lol. Anyways I think Voice of Akasha definitely proved he was at least in the top caliber of players today.

[@LK.Cynric]

Havent seen the video yet, just the intro but thank for it! The intro is really good for people like me who dont know much about tournament rules, the players, the tiers. So you set the stage very well, so I can enjoy the match much more. I'm never lost watching your AW videos, they are really well put together.

[@berni1011]

That last turn was classy

[@beforelifewaschaos]

Mangbang 😏 I liked the longer version of this commentary very much! And the Match itself was very interesting, i'm hyped for the next few finals 😀

[@naberiusbuster3489]

@Mangs I used Operation Mechstorms's XHKO Calculator and imputed the attack sequence of 10 HP Infantry, 1 HP Tank, 4 HP Tank, 1 HP Tank, 4 HP Infantry, and 10 HP Tank and got a kill chance of 99.3%! That is a really high success rate, but not so high that the RNG couldn't just Devil Axe Rip in the face. I did a 6 hit attack sequence (including 3 sacks) against a Javier 1T Megatank on a Base in the 2nd round of the Amarriner Cup 2. I lead with 3 Tanks (one at half health), and followed up with a Bomber, Neotank, and finally an Artillery which would give me about a 93/94% kill rate. The RNG responded by taking a Devil Axe to my Amarriner Cup 2 run, so no fight against Rimer for me. :(

[@christopherdecock703]

GG at the end is so much better than building a pipe runner. Truly a gentleman.

[@pktmaster]

That's what I like to call going out with style.

[@zekenotech]

At 30:10 I thought in my head "Hey, if rip_ uses enough troops at that tank and each one gets killed, he can weaken VoA's tank until the full health can take it out..." And sure enough. Lmaooo what a play!

[@Mangs1337]

Good on you for seeing it!

[@cygnusy1481]

Had the same thought. But there is a difference between seeing these plays when looking at high level replays, and coming up with them yourself when playing. Let alone when there are 180 followers to your game. Truly impressive.

[@zekenotech]

​​@@cygnusy1481Its actually something I love doing in my own game. When I have several low health units that can do damage, and there is just that one unit in the way of a massive play, I can attack with low levels, they get killed, but do damage, and clear the way for a full health to strike the final blow and open the flood gates! Its genius!

[@the7thsection]

For me, it seemed like he lost on day 9, when he had the whole 3 tanks grouped on that small plot of land with 2 cities... While his opponent had his tanks much more spread all over the map while still chained enough to support eachother, he threatened a lot more ground, while still much better poised to potentially surround the weak base. Those tank chains were so damn impressive!

[@jonathandonovan1802]

stinker?

[@Chyrosran22]

Spectacular match and great casting, thanks! :D

[@gabrielbitencourt1879]

This was the best match i ever saw and i have no words to describe it I am hyped for incuggarch vs Voice of Akasha and while both are near perfect players, i believe (not influenced by this match) that incuggarch will win

[@ousha5011]

beautiful match, i agree voice of akasha start to lose from the base loss, and the loss of the side city from middle top and middle bottom speed up the economy gap

[@ThereItIs_]

Good advice for the Internet voice clarity thing (assuming it's not their mic directly) you can ask them to record on their end and send you the file via audacity or another program, I've found success with this before

[@anonanim-9601]

NOOO! Voice of Akasha you're still a legend in my book!

[@TheCanuckCanadain]

This is the age old question. A unstoppable forces vs a immovable object. Who would win

[@swarfiga9881]

Jazz jack rabbit sountracks ROCKS!

[@ascrein5247]

Woah. VoA fought a tough battle between the mightiest of players. VoA accepted his first defeat with grace. And against one of the best players at that.

[@chuuster5445]

Mangs thank you for bringing so much energy and information into these casts! That was absolutely riveting to follow! Congrats rip_, and Voice of Akasha still the respectable champ!

[@impersonal6959]

Akasha gave up on the right side too soon. Should have put a Medium on the base and sent the standard tank somewhere to harass. Probably south would be nice. Earlier bomber would be good too, though I don't believe it was vital. He also allowed the economy to get out of his control. This last point might be the most important. The income disadvantage forced him to try to rush the HQ, devolving the fight into a struggle for decisive battle. Those are flashy, but very unreliable. Sad. Loved to believe the Big A was literally undefeatable.

[@ethanm2926]

Absolute banger of a match. To be 1 hp off of victory is so tragic. VoA had to lose at some point but for this to be the first lost is fitting, a brutal brawl right up until the end, and to take the lose in stride with the gg at the end just *chefs kiss* perfect end to a thrilling game

[@jaredcody6869]

Thanks for the upload, it was a great match and appreciated the commentary

[@SoldierOfFate]

It's always nice to see a high tier competitive match that doesn't involve infantry walls and mass artillery advances.

[@izalco2867]

>Sacrifices tens of infantrymen and tanksmen into certain death "THIS, was the play of the game" -Churchill

[@NeoN-PeoN]

At 51:00 couldn't rip have just used his 9 hp Medium Tank to kill the 4 hp tank to its left, and then move his 10 hp Neo Tank in to kill the Infantry capturing his HQ?????? I'm sure he saw that, so why did he choose to go the other route?

[@Mangs1337]

He may have wanted to limit VoA power charge to avoid a Max Blast.

[@suenwaising3113]

Instead, rip used both his Neotanks to destroy VoA's Neotank. That means if rip used one of his Neotanks to kill the Infantry, VoA's Neotank would probably have survived that turn. I may be wrong but I think rip went the hard way because he wanted to eliminate VoA's threatening Neotank and save his HQ at the same time.

[@cichoriumintybus4637]

Exceptional. The game, the commentary - this was really fun to watch!

[@napalmcannon2513]

An incredible advance wars match, a true banger

[@HyperKadaj]

VoA gave a new saying: If you're going to go out, do so as a gigachad.

[@SupremeST25]

VoA is still my GOAT for that final move😩

[@janithenimal3435]

I'm watching this probably for the 3rd time, and if I have to say something simple that isn't adressed enough, is that even against a superstar of this game, even with a crazy bad position on the board with the base rush scenario, the fact that the guy had a real tangible chance to flip this until the very end is the craziest fact that make this match the GOAT of AWBW tournament matches.

[@simisonic1741]

Nice choice of music for the match, sounds very Advance Wars-ey

[@lasselen9448]

Those HQ defences at the end were insane. The weak base's capture was in the same vein, although less impressive for less experienced onlookers. Looks like rip_'s day to day is a damage increase for each unit lost in the same turn :)

[@monsterchief117]

Hands down one of the best matches. I was following this game but unfollowed as it went on because I knew someone had to do a commentary on it. I did not want to be spoiled on who wins. Both players put on a good show too, VoA especially when he knew it was over.

[@TheCasualSubculturist]

There's rumor Voice of Akasha is Skynet AI training for world destruction using Advance Wars.

[@Xtoxinlolinecronomicon]

Respect. Good play and sportsmanship. The GOAT for good reason.

[@HippieInHeart]

"close all your other tabs" like, you mean, all 2000 of them? I don't think I want to reopen all of those after the video is over, so I'll probably just keeping them open. Still gonna watch this in fullscreen and without distractions, like all the matches you comment XD

[@adept7497]

25:13 96 - 103% damage-> roll

[@JonathanToolonie]

That match was Legendary

[@vincenzomarando378]

I looked at rip’s profile and it looks like they’ve never lost a GL standard or high funds game

[@diego0014]

Pretty sure VoA had to google where the resing button was

[@OrangeJu1cee]

you weren't kidding, match of the century right there

[@DiegoG2004]

25:40 Max Power tank with 2 Towers vs Infantry on forest: 96%-103%. It was indeed a luck roll.

[@adept7497]

Was waiting for this hehe😋 Such a sick game.

[@mathblitz2994]

The chinese player played sami in both games and got absolutely demolished by voa and talose i think

[@art-games6230]

But why did he (or she) choose Sami?

[@octaviogutierrez6442]

The undertaker of advanced wars

[@lero4827]

So the unbeatable player as been defeated a outcome that I couldn't predict and thats great too find out!

[@Bobby-ls4sk]

Oooh I was following this game, and saw it finished less than a day ago I watched the game and know the result but I will watch it again with pleasure, it was such an amazing one

[@DraconisMarchVII]

Now THIS is Advance Warsing!

[@MrJinglejanglejingle]

...Damn... That was a hell of a battle. SPOILERS BELOW - Everybody falls eventually, and against one of the highest-ranked players in the game is nothing to be ashamed about.

[@DragonflyCis]

Rip capturing base and Akashas GG were awesome. What a game.

[@josephzc1832]

Voice of akasha vs incugard when?

[@Mangs1337]

Soon!

[@EnderCrypt]

it would be cool if the replay viewer could have shown an icon or shading to indicate a gamble attack

[@ER-je3fd]

If only Mangs knew there's been a few boxing champions who never lost once... if only

[@Mangs1337]

I'm not well wersed on my boxing lore :)

[@andregon4366]

The fact that such insane moves were required to beat VoA goes to show his skill level. You have to be an absolute legend to beat VoA.

[@ryanprjgamingchannel9437]

Not gonna be like, this is shocking to say that while you don't often get the to see this player going in, it's making an even more surprising fact that... The fact that the now once-undefeated prodigy with 26 WINS prior to this match, has officially lost a match in Advance Wars by Web, for the first time in the history shown here. And beaten at his own game, no less. Though to be credited, rip_ is an Advance wars veteran that has an astoundingly good strategy here, and a pretty good W/L/D ratio here, around 76% win rate before this match. Seems like there's always a bigger fish anywhere in the competitive community of any competitive game.

[@IntrepidMercenary]

When you feel like your champion can defend a position only to get chipped by a bunch of low grunts and finished off by their own hero.

[@orrrk1]

are you going to cast the other bracket winners matches too? a match like rip_ vs talose or vs incugarc could be great aswell :)

[@kingstickers4227]

“And as the strongest Commander, Rip, fought against the fraud, the Voice of Akasha, he began to open his domain. Akasha shrunk back in fear, then Rip said, ‘Stand proud, Akasha. You are strong’”

[@SodaScarletMachine]

Win like a legend, lose like a legend!

[@PICADALOL]

My ohhhh...MY!!

[@Chowder_T]

lmao at VoA spelling out "GG"

[@TheCanuckCanadain]

the saying, once you reach the top, you can only fall. is sooo ture

[@quirbiefe7544]

man that sure was a gg

[@tamachaizumi9700]

This was one of the best games I ever saw. Just awesome.

[@USELESSDCK]

I dropped the baby to see this, worth it.

[@thebrazillianguytm2186]

I'm so hyped for the game hehehe

[@padorupadoru4477]

Chinese guy = Mirage Dragon

[@LK.Cynric]

Now that I finished watching, it was a fantastic match! That defense at the end was insane, though I am confused why defend in such a roundabout way instead of just blasting through the 4HP tank, really dont understand why. But fun match.