Riverini’s note: We had already covered this battle earlier this week, but we began to recieve so much intel and much more detailed we decided to do an in-depth battle analysis piece, I hope you guys enjoy it.

There are many ways to win a battle in EVE Online. Almost all of them, however, require a strong knowledge of the actions your potential opponent is likely to take. Thus, players make use of a variety of techniques to draw their enemies in to taking particular actions. Frequently, traps are carefully laid, baited with juicy targets attempting to lure hostiles in to action under a false sense of security & superiority. Sometimes the hunter is himself bait, with friends ready to jump to the cyno when the trap is sprung on him and more juicy targets arrive on the battlefield. The layers upon layers of potential traps are part of what make EVE Online so magical.

On April 24, 2016, at approximately 16:30 EVE time, two Shadow Cartel supercarriers and a single titan, along with the ships in the titan’s hold, were destroyed in the Vaaralen system. The ships were destroyed by Shadow Cartel’s erstwhile allies in the Moneybadger Coalition, Snuffed Out, after a Snuffed Out player offlined the safe tower they were in. The engagement was recorded from the perspective of Snuffed Out:

On this occasion and many others, EVE Online players put considerable effort into gathering actionable intelligence to use against each other. They try to gather data which they can use to attack other players, looking for any advantage they can leverage. Because individuals are putting valuable assets at risk whenever they undock, there is a strong focus on ensuring a good chance at success before these assets are committed to the field of battle. This means that trust between players has a huge role in what happens in the game.

In the Vaaralen system, the trap was successful. According to one of the super pilots, he and the other pilot had “missed the main move…through the same POS’s.” He prophetically joked about the “trap” they were jumping into, only to have it sprung minutes later. Asked for comment, Cybus responded

“I always knew I’d one day lose my super but [this] wasn’t exactly how I pictured it dying.”

In this case, Snuffed Out was able to spring a trap which resulted in the destruction of about 190 billion ISK in assets. This would have long-term consequences for the alliance, but it was also a compelling example of the efforts players make in order to outwit or deceive their opponents to create content. On a smaller scale, players make use of deception on a daily basis, and this is far from the first time blue standings have been used against fellow players. One of the most famous of such events in EVE history occurred almost exactly eleven years to the day before Snuffed Out’s trap.

Snuffed Out’s move, understandably, heavily inflamed pre-existing tensions between the two low-sec rivals. In a game that relies as heavily on individual trust as EVE Online, this was seen as a grave betrayal by the pilots killed. The move resulted in internal conflict for Snuffed Out as well, and eventually led to six corporations leaving to form a new alliance called Escalating Entropy. However, Snuffed Out diplomat Capitol One offered the following statement:

“I wasn’t there for the awox since I was taking a RL break from eve for about a month, and I probably wouldn’t have been too keen on shooting blues because of my diplomat status, but I think the fallout from the event wasn’t anything catastrophic and has only served to weed out the toxic parts of the alliance and bring us closer together as a team.”

When asked for comment, Escalating Entropy alliance leader, fleet commander, and co-CEO of Ice Fire Warriors, Punchbug2142, described the betrayal as “A poor decision.” He further stated that while it was not initially his intention to leave Snuffed Out:

“After listening to my [corporation] members…on a majority basis the decision to leave was made. I already had a good relationship with Gremk in SC before this happened so working with SC after the split was something that was going to happen.”

Capitol One of Snuffed Out agreed with this assessment, saying:

“The US Timezone of CHAOS and Shadow Cartel have definitely been cosy for a long time, relying on each other on ops. This goes back to the time when chaos was a part of Snuffed Out. So it’s no real surprise that they rely on each other now, and especially against [Snuffed Out].”

Snuffed Out fleet commander and C.Q.B. CEO Perunga notes that Snuffed Out “could have handled [the issue] better” but feels that ultimately, the event was good for the game because “it brought us more good fights.” He added,

“It is not good for the game to have many entities such as Snuffed Out, Shadow Cartel, C02, and the like blue to each other, because just as in it did in nullsec, this leads to stagnation in the game.”

In the month since this event, there have been regular engagements between the three alliances, most of little consequence. However, a line of diplomacy was established between Shadow Cartel and Escalating Entropy, and on a few occasions they have worked together seeking good fights. Several attempts were also made to draw Snuffed Out into a large-scale engagement. These initial attempts were met with limited success.

On May 23, 2016, almost exactly a month after the Shadow Cartel supercapitals were destroyed, another attempt was made. As has been previously reported, the initial effort was made by Escalating Entropy to bait Snuffed Out into a fight over a moon in Asakai, with help from Psychotic Tendencies and Shadow Cartel. This attempt was unsuccessful in drawing Snuffed Out into a pitched battle, with fleet commander Perunga noting that they simply didn’t have the numbers to contend with the opposing force. Because of this, Shadow Cartel fleet commander Gremk proposed a second attempt.

At around 0200 EVE Time, a Shadow Cartel fleet consisting of about twenty Machariels, several support subcapitals, four Apostles, and thirteen assorted dreadnoughts jumped into the Deven system. This fleet began reinforcing a reaction tower belonging to Snuffed Out in hopes of bringing them into battle. The attempt was successful, and a somewhat larger joint Snuffed Out and Rapid Withdrawal Machariel fleet supported by Guardians bridged next door into Nagamanen.

Though Snuffed Out had more subcapitals on field, several of Shadow Cartel’s capitals were equipped with high-angle weaponry and they initially did an excellent job killing Snuffed Out battleships. However, in response to this large capital force, Snuffed Out had brought approximately a dozen supercarriers into Nagamanen. Most of these jumped into Deven, and quickly tore through the Apostles before engaging the dreadnoughts.

However, several supercarriers had been bumped off the Deven gate in Nagamanen, and as they attempted to reach the gate and return to their fleet, an Escalating Entropy fleet bridged into system and successfully tackled an Aeon. Snuffed Out quickly disengaged in Deven and attempted to rescue their trapped ally. The ambush had begun. Shadow Cartel quickly joined Escalated Entropy in Nagamanen and a general engagement commenced. Both sides lost several triage and dreadnoughts before the first Snuffed Out supercarrier, a Hel, was destroyed.

Though the fight initially went well for Shadow Cartel and Escalating Entropy, they lost a large number of dreadnoughts and triage fairly quickly. It began to seem as though Snuffed Out might be able to extract, and a few supers who were not tackled warped off grid.

The importance of trust in EVE cannot be overstated. Friendships (and betrayals) cut both ways. It can take months or years to rebuild relationships after a bridge has been burned. Those friendships that hold strong, however, can lead to great success. It was one such friendship that brought a massive force of Psychotic Tendencies supercapitals onto the field. The reason for this, says alliance leader Lex Arson, is because

“Old friends in CHAOS asked me if I could be on standby for the initial timer in Asakai.”

Because they were already staged nearby, Psychotic Tendencies were able to quickly reinforce the struggling allies with a large fleet consisting mostly of Machariels, supercarriers and several titans. Once this force arrived on field, any hope of escape was squashed. Soon after, a joint fleet belonging to Pandemic Legion and Waffles with Tech 3 Cruisers and many more heavy interdictors arrived as well.

Ultimately, upwards of five hundred billion ISK were destroyed in Nagamanen and Deven. The joint forces of Escalating Entropy and Shadow Cartel lost sixteen Apostles and about twenty dreadnoughts in the two engagements, while Snuffed Out lost ten supercarriers, seven Apostles, eleven dreadnoughts, and about fifteen Machariels, in addition to the not-insignificant number of smaller subcapital support ships lost on both sides.

Most of the initial engagement in Nagamanen was recorded here. The later portion of the fight was also recorded from the perspective of Psychotic Tendencies here, and from a neutral perspective here.

This battle was one of the more massive low-sec engagements in recent history. While it is rare to see an engagement on this scale, when it does happen, the results are epic. It is this sort of fight which makes EVE Online so uniquely enjoyable and engaging. The battle was entirely orchestrated by several players, who successfully enticed Snuffed Out into an ambush which resulted in heavy losses to their supercarrier fleet. There can be no doubt that players will continue to create these sorts of traps in hopes of a repeat occurrence.

When asked to describe the melee, Punchbug2142 called it “a pretty chaotic fight.” He paid special tribute to the members of his fleet, who performed with great skill under pressure.

“For people to just log in and blindly jump their dreads, carriers, and force auxiliaries into the fight was amazing.”

This is yet another example of the role that trust plays in the game – if fleet members do not have faith in their commander, these sorts of victories are impossible to achieve. Psychotic Tendencies leader Lex Arson noted that the outcome was far beyond their initial expectations, saying

“I wasn’t led to believe that killing ten super caps was the expected outcome of events before it all went down.”

Shadow Cartel fleet commander Gremk paid tribute to his allies, stating

“CHAOS was an enormous part of this and the battle wouldn’t have happened without SHDWC and CHAOS working well together.”

He also agreed with Punchbug2142’s assessment, claiming that

“[The battle] was honestly the craziest fight I’ve ever been in. [It had] a lot of moving parts that just happened to all more or less fall into place.”

On the other side, Snuff Box member Romandra gave enormous credit to Perunga, noting that

“[Perunga] is probably 90% responsible for making sure our supers killed as many dreads as they did.”

Max Evangelion of Rapid Withdrawal concurred with the statement, and added his thanks for Snuffed Out “for delivering the fantastic content and being a great group to work with.” Max Evangelion also described the two groups’ relationship as highly positive, noting that

“[Rapid Withdrawal] assist when we can and the same goes for them, [it’s] a good relationship.”

Perunga agreed, calling Rapid Withdrawal “good bros…a good bunch of dudes.” As ever, the trust between these groups was essential to their cooperation.

Perunga also praised his former ally Punchbug2142, saying

“I respect Punchy for the way he worked with us for a solid year. I understand the decision to leave.”

He was very proud of Snuffed Out for their willingness to use supercarriers and titans in such a situation, and challenged Escalating Entropy and Shadow Cartel to show a similar willingness in the future. He also added,

“When the Don says run the tool, you gotta run the tool. I don’t think people understand how good an FC d0nniedarko is. He is one of the calmest FCs I’ve ever flown with. Absolutely fearless.”

Capitol One of Snuffed Out also credited the fleet commanders, noting the immediate willingness of D0nnieDark0 and Hy Wanto Destroyer to come to the aid of his trapped super. He further thanked Perunga for his decisiveness in taking over target calling after the deaths of the others’ supercarriers. Capitol One also thanked his alliance mates for their steadfast participation, saying

“All those people who stayed up into the late hours of the night, you are true team players.”

All parties involved spoke highly of their allies, and there was general agreement that the battle was fantastic fun. Both fleets had successes and failures, and for a long time the battle was much closer than the final numbers imply. For members of Shadow Cartel, the eventual victory provided a sense of justice for the ships destroyed last April. Several Snuffed Out pilots were also outspoken about how much fun they had during the fight. Capitol One, however, has no doubts about the continuing strength of Snuffed Out, saying ”

This is but a bump in the road for us. We will be back, stronger than ever.”

There can be no doubt that battles of this sort are a huge part of what makes EVE Online so special, and there will hopefully be many more to come.

Special thanks to Perunga, Capitol One, and Romandra of Snuffed Out, Punchbug2142 of Escalating Entropy, Lex Arson of Psychotic Tendencies, Gremk and Cybus of Shadow Cartel, and Max Evangelion of Rapid Withdrawal.