luchapetal

The Cunning Champions, it turns out, were simply busy last week and needed a moment, and they have returned from that moment with 2587 points and absolutely zero interest in discussing the previous Trial any further.

It arrived, and the board fractured. The interest of the Firmament wavered and waved and pushed and pulled, tearing up the ground the players stood on. It was deep, potent, and ancient chaos. And in the middle of that storm, a wall finally came down.

The Firmament does not care about history. It does not care. It never did. It doesn’t care that once, not so long ago, the Pathfinders walked into Trials and left with a distance between them and everyone else that felt impossible to cross. It doesn’t care about what we thought was inevitable. It doesn’t care about what we expected.

Season 2 opened under the shadow of the Trophy Trial, with the Cunning Champions holding both the Trophy and the momentum. The question entering Trial #1 was simple: was that victory a singular culmination, or the beginning of something sustained?

From the moment the first pods fired, it was clear that this was the culmination of months of rivalry, refinement, and coordination. The Accords were ready, and their Chairs and Council even more so. This author has watched a great many Trials unfold across the Firmament, but this one carried a different weight. Every Accord arrived organized. Every chair was present. Every decision felt intentional.

Accord Wars Trial #21 carried a quieter intensity than some of the recent Trials, but the tension underneath was unmistakable. With the Trophy Trial approaching and the season narrowing, every pod mattered. Coordination was tighter. Decisions were cleaner. Even where the standings look decisive, the actual play told a more complicated story.

The tables have turned. But for once, it’s uncertain. Accord Wars Trial #20 felt different from the moment it began. The voice channel was full, with over a dozen players coordinating in real time, Accord chairs present and active, plans being called, adjustments being made, and players rallying around shared goals.

This Trial introduced a restricted format requiring all Agents to be below Rank 10 in Hunter, Harvester, and Survivor. With only two pods per round and ten players packed into each, the margin for error was thinner than usual. There was nowhere to hide, and consistency mattered more than raw power.

Trial 16 was not even a little bit close. The Cunning Champions did not squeak out a win, they crushed the board.

Accord Wars Trial 15 unfolded as a layered contest of consistency, timing, and early dominance. The Alusian Pathfinders once again emerged on top, supported by repeated high value win cons from Cephalon9999 and strong depth across pods. The Sovereign Warriors and Cunning Champions traded ground throughout the night, while the Xandrian Handlers struggled to convert isolated wins into lasting scoreboard pressure.

This Trial did not hinge on a single explosive round. Instead, it was defined by a steady back and forth, with Pathfinders, Warriors, and Champions all winning pods and trading momentum throughout the night.

Friday’s Trial wasn’t an upset, it was an overthrow. After weeks of Pathfinder dominance, the Cunning Champions stormed the arena with surgical precision and left nothing but wreckage behind them. Trial #11 will be remembered not as a close contest, but as the night the Champions seized control.