The Alliance Tournament XXII finals ended on Sunday, 1 November, and the trophy goes to Deteriorated. According to the official EVE Online account, they beat Dracarys 3-2 in the grand final. The post says every match swung back and forth, with flagships and the new AT prize ships on the field, and that more than 6.2 trillion ISK was destroyed over the tournament. It calls AT XXII the most destructive Alliance Tournament so far.
Two days, a live audience
The finals ran on 31 October and 1 November and were streamed on the Fenris Creations Twitch channel. This year the final weekend also had an audience in the room. Players on r/Eve were mostly happy with it: one thread titled "What an absolutely great AT" praises the live event, the studio and commentary, and a ruleset that gave "a variety of options and no clear 'best' meta". The poster calls the final "fantastic". It is one viewer's opinion, but it matches the tone of the weekend on the subreddit.
If you missed the lead-up, we covered the prize ships and the finals schedule two weeks ago.
What the winners take home
The Amarr Empire sponsored the tournament. According to the official prize announcement, the champions receive 40 Heralds and 40 Penitences, the two new exclusive AT ships. The Herald is a Sentinel-based electronic attack frigate and the Penitence a Curse-based combat recon cruiser. The runner-up gets 20 of each. Amarr Victory SKINs are awarded for every match won, and the winning pilots' names are engraved on the trophy that will be shown at Fanfest. Fenris Creations says the final ship bonuses may still change.
Pirate Synchronizer rigs appear on stream
The stream also gave players something to chew on. During the broadcast the pirate faction Synchronizer rigs were shown on screen, and r/Eve users quickly posted screenshots: one thread collects the stats and another (image) argues that the penalties look designed to curb long-range kiting. That is the poster's reading, not an official statement.
The empire versions were already under discussion after the Fractured Skies dev blog. A review thread on the Imperial Navy rig and a question about ships with "non-racial" bonuses show where the debate is: some hulls, such as Amarr ships with missile bonuses, may not fit neatly into any one empire rig.
Another viewer noticed that the Oracle Navy Issue shown on the stream seems to be missing the plating and design upgrades visible in the 20 October announcement (thread). No explanation has been given.
What's next
Fractured Skies lands on 10 November, with the new Navy attack battlecruisers and the Synchronizer rigs. The prize ships are the next thing to watch: whether the Herald and Penitence stay exclusive to tournament teams will probably come up before then.
Sources
