Once again throughout the months of October and November our community was graced with more competitive hogs of war. Season 2 of HoWL kicked off with some surprises, as some of our veteran players receiving early wake up calls from the fresh blood making their first appearances in the Pro League. Despite the shaky start, both Group A and B started to take the shape many had expected from the get go.
By the end of the Final week we saw a comfortable 1st place finish for adb95 and Castor within their respective groups, with some close fought matches for the remaining qualification spots. In the end we had adb95, Herpderp, Mascettino and Axby94 making it through to the Playoffs in Group A, while Castor, Irn Fox, Angurio and Darrot joined them from Group B. It was only adb95 who went into the Playoffs upbeaten, having ended the seven weeks with 5 wins and a single draw (who could forget that crazy finish vs Axby94 on Bridge the Gap!). Perhaps the pressure of maintaining that record got the better of him, as the start of the first round matches saw him crash out against the dark horse Darrot.
Carried by his early success, Darrot pushed on into the Semi Finals. Unfortunately for him - his next opponent was to show no mercy. After dispatching Irn Fox 2-0 in his first round, Mascettino proceeded to make mince meat of Darrot, as he waltzed into the Grand Final with a 3-0 clean sweep. On the other side of the coin, the other first round matches saw Castor managing to scrape past Axby94 with a tense 2-0 victory, while Angurio's matchup with Herpderp came right down to the wire, eventually ending in a 2-1 victory to the Italian. The 2nd Semi Final then saw Castor show us why he is the best of the best, as he kept his cool and took care of Angurio in a 3-1 win to make it to the Final.
Now, if you haven't watched the Grand Final yet - please, go and watch it! It was honestly one of the most insane matches of Hogs of War I've ever witnessed, as a fan, a player and a commentator. Castor vs Mascettino will forever go down as one of the craziest League Final matchups in Hogs history, and it was simply a joy to watch. From poison counters, to blimp disruption, to jetpack crashes - it has everything. If you don't want any more spoilers then stop reading... now. Are you still reading? Ok, well if you are then you'll know that Castor eventually took the win and maintained his crown for the 2nd year running after a ridiculous 150HP damaging shrapnel shot on Skulduggery to win the Final 3-1. I'm still getting over that shot by the way...
This year has been another tough one for all of us, but we've pulled through with another successful League campaign and shown once again why this game is so great. I would like to give a personal shout out to Angurio for his strength in fighting on during tough times, J.Warren, Pekkiz and Darrot for showing us what the Grunt League has to offer, to the League Admin team made up of adb95, Fab, Axby94, Castor, Herpderp and Crumble for yet another successful year and of course - you, the community, for watching and supporting us this year. Here's to Season 3, here's to Season 2 of the Grunt League, and here's to you. Merry Christmas everyone! (Don't forget to check out the Playoff Streams below!)
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