Where to start.
When we landed I felt extremely confident that we had the match. Obviously with a strong stealth bomber support wing their initial damage was going to be very high. But our support wing was very, very good. So I knew we'd clear the bombers in no time. The issue would eventually come down to the two Vindis and two Bargs. If our dps core could survive long enough to take down one of the Vindi's then we'd have control of the match. The rest would simply be avoiding the remaining Vindi's web bonus and using small ships to kill the Rapid Heavy Bargs, not an impossible order.
Right off the bat several things happened that forced our hand. Our Curse, under mwd, was blapped off the field early by the bombers, before we could kill them. And our Logi pilot, extremely skilled but also very nervous, was unable to land reps on our Phobos' in time. In addition, one of our Heretics was working with two off-lined mods, which could not be repaired before the match. They had been working fine in station.
We brought the correct comp to defeat the other team. And we should have won. That is what makes it a tough loss for us. Granted, first time out and nerves were probably an issue for all of us. I know I made a mistake or two myself that I wish I could have back. So you have to know that is going to happen and just deal with it. The same things happen in any fight, you suck it up and move on.
I'm extremely proud of our team, they all fought until the last second. Even with all the mistakes, we had a chance to win right up until the buzzer. You can't ask for more than that. Kudos to Joffy for landing top damage on one of the Vindi's in his Confessor, a tad over 30k deeps on that one kill. And for managing to stay alive. Well done.
Well done to all of our team. We will pick ourselves up and show up tomorrow smarter, wiser and more experienced for what happened today. Despite the loss I remain as confident in our guys as I was this morning. Nothing has changed.
We've been bloodied. Now our backs are against the wall. As usual.
Onward and Upward.
Here is a view from Oddsodz in the heretic: