Note from the Author: I pulled two straight all-nighters to get this article done in time for the start of the feeder rounds. I cannot express my gratitude to Cliff Beauland, Rahne and Ashy for their assistance in data gathering and research. I finished this article while the Eds were asleep, so hopefully they will do some pretty formatting and pictures beyond my wordpress ability when they wake up. My apologies for the current state of formatting and any inaccuracies in the text, if I have missed out or incorrectly stated any information about your, or anyone else’s alliance here, pelase feel free to get in touch so I can fix it, it has been a crazy two weeks putting this all together. Regards, and the best of luck to all the teams participating this weekend, Apoth.

An Alliance Has No Name

Formed: 31/07/2016

First match: Arena 2 13:30 vs. Blades of Grass (with Demonic Wheat Pineapple)

Containing HAX., a very old British corporation which at a time was one of the main groups of Northern Coalition, An Alliance Has No Name is something of a mystery to me. We unfortunately could not get an interview with An Alliance Has No Name before this article was due to be published, so we will have to wait to learn more about them on match day!

Army of New Eden

Formed: 23/04/2016

First match: Arena 2 15:00 vs. SAMURAI SOUL’d OUT

Army of New Eden declined our request for an interview, but I can tell you is that they are entering the tournament for the first time and they hold Sov down in Tenerifis and Wicked Creek. They are (according to The Judge) a renter-tier member of the Phoenix Federation coalition run by FCON.

Asteria Concord.

Formed: 19/05/2016

First Match: Arena 1 13:00 vs Shadow Cartel

A member of the Phoenix Federation down in Immensea with FCON, SERIN and ARMY, Asteria Concord. Are a faction from the post-coup Phoebe Freeport Republic AT team who made it all the way to the top 16 of ATXIV, though only drew two or three pilots from that team, the rest remaining in PFR itself. Captained by their Alliance FC Ninja Uitoh, they unfortunately lose the seeding given to PFR for their top 16 finish of last year as they have had to form a new alliance. Going up against Shadow Cartel in the feeder rounds is a really unlucky draw, but as we saw last year having lost the core of its AT team SC are a shadow of its former self, meaning Asteria have a solid chance to advance to the main tournament.

Badfellas Inc.

Formed: 11/04/2016

First Match: Arena 1 13:30 vs. Test Alliance Please Ignore

Maintaining their place in Malpais since last year’s tournament, Badfellas had a rocky start last year due to problems with captaincy and losing key team members at unfortunate times. Only starting to practice a week before the tournament itself began, Badfellas did not manage a single win last year, losing to The Explicit Alliance and then Fraternity. Hopefully they have had a little more opportunity for practice since last year, which they will certainly need going up against an established team like TEST.

Interesting trivia note: Badfellas is home to several exceedingly old alliances, one of which is Celestial Horizons, the corp who produced the first ever Titan in EVE; Steve.

Best Intentions.

Formed: 18/11/2016

First Match: Arena 1 19:00 vs. IT’S ONLY PIXELS

Captained by Compayn, their Head FC, Best Intentions. are a high-class wormhole alliance formed mostly from one corporation; Doom Generation. It’s their first go at any tournament activity for every member on their team but they fly in AT-sized gangs normally, so they have the experience in that scale of warfare, if under a somewhat different circumstance.

Blades of Grass (with Demonic Wheat Pineapple)

Formed: 19/04/2015

First Match: Arena 2 13:30 vs. An Alliance Has No Name

Blades of Grass is a Branch-based Null Sec group who use emonic Wheat Pineapple for their home defense and ADM maintenance while Blades is on deployment. It’’s their first time in the AT and haven’t pulled a big name opponent, so they have a reasonable chance of getting through to the main tournament.

Bright Side of Death

Formed: 03/12/2008

First Match: Arena 2 19:00 vs. Good at this Game

Bright Side of Death have lived in Curse for many, many years who generally just focus on smaller-gang roaming and are picking their most active members to form their AT team. Starting late in the day may be an advantage for seeing how the meta unfolds on the first day, especially for a first-time entrant, but it does not guarantee their opponents will be playing an “on meta” comp.

Brotherhood of Spacers

Formed: 21/09/2015

First Match: Arena 2 19:30 vs. Of Sound Mind

Spacers are making their second run at the tournament this year, and should be pretty happy with the Serpentis sponsor as their chosen flagship last year was the uncommon choice of a Vindicator, so assuming they make it through to the main tournament we are likely to see a return pick from them there. Last year Brotherhood fell out of the tournament 0-2 to The-Culture and LowSechnaya Sholupen, both times bringing a Gallente rush team with T2 frigate logi. Will they be rolling the same meta this year having perfected it over 12 months? Or have they found some more team comps to try out? We’ll find out on the weekend.

Brothers in Arms Alliance

Formed: 29/01/2015

First Match: Arena 1 19:30 vs. Red Alliance

Brothers in Arms are the possibly the most optimistic team in the Alliance Tournament, running tinker teams in both their matches last year, despite the ban on energy transfers. They lost both matches and the year before in their debut they ran tinkers only as well, though they did manage to win a match against WAFFLES., their only game win to date. With ETs back on the table (though admittedly a ban on remote reps on T3Cs) Red need to know how to deal with Tinkers if they want to advance to the main tournament without having to win 3 more games in a row.

ChaosTheory.

Formed: 06/11/2015

First Match: Arena 1 15:00 vs. Snuffed Out

A member of GotG Coalition owning sov up in Branch and Deklein “Making Deklein Great Again” through some hardcore ratting and mining and are making their first run in the Alliance Tournament with captain Jenee Jackson. Training daily they’re confident that they have some tricks to pull out of their sleeves in their match against Snuffed Out.

Circle-Of-Two

Formed: 02/03/2008

First Match: Arena 2 17:30 vs. No Handlebars.

Co2 have a long, storied history both on TQ and in the Alliance Tournament. You can read about the exploits of the “Band of Backstabbers” in many other places, so I will omit that information here and focus on their lengthy tournament history.

ATVII: 2nd place to PL, beating The Important Internet Spaceship League, THE R0NIN, The Wrong Alliance and Beyond Virginity, winning 50 Freki frigates.

ATVIII: Lost to We Form Voltron in Ro16.

ATIX: Knocked out by Outbreak. and Lost to wild Boars after defeating RAZOR.

ATXI: Beat SCUM and Outbreak., lost to WAFFLES and CVA.

ATXII: Lost to Agony Empire, received a bye against CODE and then lost to Outbreak.

ATXIII: Beat Brothers in Arms Alliance, lost to Tactical Narcotics Team and Easily Excited.

ATXIV: Beat COF Alliance and LowSechnaya Sholupen, lost to The Afterlife. And Ministry of Inappropriate Footwork.

You would assume that the natural progression of an AT team would be to only win a game here or there in their first few runs, then slowly rise in consistency and results. C02 turn that idea somewhat on its head, starting out strong and largely declining over teh eyars, perhaps unable to keep up with the general increase in skill we see across the board, especially in the past few years. That said, ATXIV was a slight improvement over their ATXII and ATXIII results, so perhaps C02 are back on the rise now they are out of the Imperium Umbrella, similar to their state as an alliance the rest of the year round.

Digital Vendetta

Formed: 03/05/2016

First Match: Arena 2 14:00 vs. Fidelas Constans

Digital Vendetta are a group of E-Uni alumni whose enthusiasm is overpowering. If you believe Entriri Crendraven they’re spending every waking moment practicing, theorycrafting and doing small gang roams up in the north of New Eden. I have a huge soft spot for E-Uni so will definitely be rooting for them against FCON.

End of Life

Formed: 27/07/2012

First Match: Arena 1 17:00 vs. Legio Astartes Arcanum

This is End of Life’s fifth straight run at the Alliance Tournament, they’re a HiSec/WH based alliance

ATXI: Beat Darkspawn, lost to HYDRA RELOADED, beat Angeli Mortis, lost to HUN Reloaded.

ATXII: Lost to The Methodical Alliance, beat The Nameless Alliance., lost to COVEN

ATXIII: Lost to The Afterlife., beat Gone Critical, CVA, Dream Fleet, Dead Terrorists making it all the way to the final weekend before losing to the Darkside. Infused Gorgon Empire and Spawn.

ATXIV: Lost to Agony Empire and Templis CALSF

On odd numbered years, End of Life take serious contenders to take them out, resulting in a blistering run in ATXIII taking them all the way to the final weekend. Even numbered years however, EoL drop in the first weekend making little to no impact on the bracket. It’s an odd numbered year, so here’s hoping we see the End of Life we saw in ATXIII rather than last year’s team.

Fidelas Constans

Formed: 30/01/2009

First Match: Arena 2 14:00 vs. Digital Vendetta

FCON are the leaders of the new of the “Phoenix Federation” coalition, down in the south of conquerable space. FCON are making their return to the Alliance Tournament after their initial foray three years ago in ATXII, where they lost two straight games to Nulli Secunda and Almost Awesome., hopefully their years away from the tournament (and now from Goon brain drain) have given them time to reflect and come back stronger to win at least one game this year, a solid goal for any newer tournament team.

Ghost Legion.

Formed: 08/03/2017

First Match: Arena 1 15:30 vs. PURPLE HELMETED WARRIORS

Ghost Legion are a new team, but a team I’m expecting to do quite well in that they have a lot of different recognisable influences and achievements. Containing Nasty-Boyz who won the EVE_NT Cup at the beginning of the year and then went on to place 4th in the minors, propelling them to the major leagues for the next season after the AT takes place. Add on to that they were part of Mercenary Coalition’s AT team last year do did reasonable well, beating CAStabouts, Paisti Coalition and even Ministry of Inappropriate Footwork but being knocked out by VYDRA RELOADED and The Tuskers Co., the eventual winners of the tournament. On TQ they form a permanent portion of those guarantors of the safety of the recent NETC citadel expansion through lowsec, with their main staging in that now famous Keepstar in Maila.

I recognise from their member list a Ex-Uni pilots I used to know (though were admittedly not very fond of me) such as their Team Captain, Elden Rin, who moved onto BDCI and then Mercenary coalition as Sabre A was re-starting it a few years ago. Ghost Legion also contains BOPE., another ex-PL member corp who would certainly have had a few member on the PL AT team before, meaning they can likely pull instituturience from people like their CEO Fafer. Ghost Legion are likely to be a scary team this year, maybe not Top 4 but should certainly scare anyone who hope to make it to the final weekend.

Good at this Game

Formed: 02/03/2015

First Match: Arena 2 19:00 vs. Bright Side of Death

Good at this Game are a one-corp (Team Pizza) wormhole alliance who have been trying to be a part of the tournament for the past three years but have not been lucky enough to have been chosen through the random draw. They have 2-3 members from when they were a part of No Holes Barred who took part in their tournament run of several years ago, but in their words they are largely “flying by the seat of their pants” and just taking the tournament as it comes.

Goonswarm Federation

Formed: 01/06/2010

First Match: Arena 2 18:30 vs. Spectre Fleet Alliance

Aaahh! Goonies! Captained by the 32nd best FC in the Imperium, Asher Elias, who is supremely excited to take part in this year’s tournament, having wanted to compete for several years now but never making it through the random draw, and not getting the alliance backing to put in a high bid for the silent auction. Asher’s team won the recent “Anger Games” Imperium semi-internal tournament, and with their wealth of rces, both human and ingame, I expect them to come out of the gates as a strong contender in this year’s tournament. That said, Rorquals and supercaps are not valid ship types which may pose a first hurdle to them, but with T2 Combat Drones being re-introduced to the ruleset Asher will be allowed to at last return to his true love, the Ishtar. An often forgotten but integral part of running a good tournament team is that of clear organisation and utilisation of manpower, possibly the Imperium and Goonswarm’s greatest strength, so I certainly expect to see Goons back in the main tournament after being absent for 3 years following their runs in ATXI and ATX.

Ashers stated goals are to make it to the main tournament and win one match, but even though they’re a team of mostly first timers (and are allegedly getting no official alliance support) I personally expect to see them make it at least as far as the second weekend, barring hitting any extremely established and powerful teams.

Heirs of Nothing (with I Aim to Misbehave)

Formed: 16/02/2017

First Match: Arena 2 18:00 vs. Templis CALSF

Heirs of nothing are a tiny 39 man alliance who appear to PvP in northern lowsec, primarily Placid and Black Rise. Small lowsec groups have shown to cause upsets in the tournament before, so they may be a team to watch moving forward.

Hole Control

Formed: 12/04/2014

First Match: Arena 2 16:30 vs. Rote Kapelle (with Rote Works)

Hole Control is (unsurprisingly) a wormhole group who appear to currently work in C5 class space. It is their first entrant into tournament play as far as I can tell, so we have little knowledge as to whether they will be a strong team or an easy first match for Rote Kapelle, a team which we expect to go far in every tournament.

Iron Armada

Formed: 12/05/2015

First Match: Arena 1 16:00 vs. Solar Fleet

Last year Iron Armada made their third entry into the Alliance Tournament, but were unlucky enough to pull Pandemic Legion in the first round and fell to their show of force Raven State Issue team. Following that defeat however, Armada came back to beat Cede Nullis and Rabble Alliance before losing to Fraternity, barely not making it to the second weekend of the tournament. Iron currently hold sov up in Fountain but also a station down in Wicked Creek, a strange juxtaposition of regions to have a stake in.

It Must Be Jelly Cause Jam Don’t Shake

Formed: 29/09/2016

First Match: Arena 1 14:00 vs. MORDUS ANGELS

Taking a year off after their tournament debut, one of my favourite named alliances return to the alliance tournament. In their first year, the J-space alliance Jelly paired up against THE R0NIN first round which is a terribly unlucky draft, but after losing there they did beat Forsaken Federation before being eliminated by Nihilists Social Club. Jelly showed a fondness for the extremely cool, if not necessarily effective, Nightmare based team comps, so hopefully they will show us some more cool team design this year as well, perhaps with some better results.

IT’S ONLY PIXELS

Formed: 07/02/2015

First Match: Arena 1 19:00 vs. Best Intentions.

It’s only pixels are making their third attempt in a row at the alliance tournament this year after beating Templis CALSF in ATXIV before losing to Agony Empire and CAStabouts. Last year Pixels lived in the Galactic South-East, but now own Sov on the opposite side of empire with holdings in Fountain.

Legio Astartes Arcanum

Formed: 06/04/2009

First Match: Arena 1 17:00 vs. End of Life

Legio are a smallish 300-man Stain/Tenerifis-based null-sec alliance who are making their first run at the alliance tournament. I wish I had more information to give you but unfortunately I was unable to get in contact before this article needed to be published.

LowSechnaya Sholupen

Formed: 12/08/2013

First Match: Arena 1 14:30 vs. Project.Mayhem.

The Russian #REKKINGCREW if you ill, LSH have been the scourge of travelling supercapitals in Aridia for the past few years. LSH have also had a keen interest in the Alliance tournament over that time, with this being their third entry into the tournament in four years. Their first run was impeded somewhat by being matched up against The Camel Empire in the first round, losing there then beating The Kadeshi before being eliminated by Easily Excited. LSH made exactly the same record last year last year losing to CVA in the first round, beating Brotherhood of Spacers and then being eliminated by Circle-Of-Two. Hopefully in their third go they’ll have taken their two experiences and be able to make more of an impact on the bracket.

Men with Fancy Hats

Formed: 19/08/2016

First Match: Arena 1 17:30 vs. Solyaris Chtonium

Men with Fancy Hats are the one-corp alliance of DAWGS Corp. who have done a whole bunch of different things in EVE over their near decade of existence an are having a go at the alliance tournament for the experience of something fresh.

MOIST.

Formed: 09/04/2012

First Match: Arena 1 16:30 vs. RAZOR Alliance

MOIST. Are mobile-platform gamers returning to the tournament after a two year hiatus. In ATXI they went 0-2 to Transmission Lost and Surely You’re Joking, then in ATXII went 0-2 again to Easily Excited and Dead Terrorists. Will it be third time’s the charm for MOIST. against RAZOR to win their first tournament game?

MORDUS ANGELS

Formed: 26/08/2007

First Match: Arena 1 14:00 vs. It Must Be Jelly Cause Jam Don’t Shake

Mordus Roleplayers turned eternal enemy of the Imperium are one of the oldest teams competing in this year’s tournament. Surprisingly however, I cannot find any mention of them participating in any previous tournaments, making them both something old and something new.

No Handlebars.

Formed: 19/05/2015

First Match: Arena 2 17:30 vs. Circle-Of-Two

Mandatory music while watching their matches. No Handlebars member corp Vomit Comets recently moved from the Top-16 finishing Villore Accords to their current alliance, and given their members experience had Fenris Dallocort asked to be the captain for their team this year, despite only having the skills to fly the smaller support ships. On TQ No Handlebars live out of Hadozeko and spend their time in Minmatar FW space, having moved there from the north since “the Snuffbox-PM-waffles bluedonut got too cancerous”. They seem to have a lot of members enthusiastic to take part, if find the whole ordeal a little intimidating.

Of Sound Mind

Formed: 28/05/2011

First Match: Arena 2 19:30 vs. Brotherhood of Spacers

Of Sound Mind have not participated in the AT since their debut all the way back in ATXI, where they went 0-2 to YOUR VOTES DON’T COUNT (Read: WAFFLES) and SCUM. Part of the old HERO Coalition, SOUND have moved around a fair bit over their years but most recently find themselves focusing on their wormhole pursuits.

Pen Is Out

Formed: 25/06/2016

First Match: Arena 2 13:00 vs. Spaceship Bebop

Pen Is Out (or [WANGS]) is a smaller low sec group containing Rapid Withdrawal which may be a more familiar name to some viewers. It’s their first time in the alliance tournament but their team participated in the EVE_NT Cup and managed to place third in the recent Anger Games tournament. Pen Is Out and have a good working relationship with Snuffed Out (Blues) and Templis CALSF (frenemies for gudfites) who they have been scrimming with. I would not be at all surprised to see these guys i the main bracket with their recent focus on tournament play.

Project.Mayhem.

Formed: 15/12/2014

First Match: Arena 1 14:30 vs. LowSechnaya Sholupen

Forming half of ProjectBox or Project SnuffleBox, Project Mayhem are a Russian TZ low sec alliance who have benefited greatly from their partnership in the great lowsec arms race of recent years. Further, I am informed that they have absorbed the fantastic The Afterlife. team which immediately makes them serious competitors in the tournament this year. This is likely a safe bet that we will see PM in the main tournament, and probably get fairly deep through the bracket.

PURPLE HELMETED WARRIORS

Formed: 14/05/2010

First Match: Arena 1 15:30 vs. Ghost Legion.

RocketX’s alt corp, or PURPLE HELMETED WARRIORS form an integral part of #REKKINGCREW who like to drop capitals on things in Derelik. Their team is fairly new to tournament play but putting in a lot of hard work and are hoping to be trend setters in the way the meta plays out. Unfortunately, going up against Ghost Legion in the first round is a very tall order, meaning they will likely have to make it through the three-game slog to see the main bracket this year.

R.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N

Formed: 07/11/2011

First Match: Arena 2 17:00 vs. The Society For Unethical Treatment Of Sleepers

R.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N are a northern lowsec alliance with a long tournament history who missed out on ATXIV but did take part in the four prior alliance tournaments.

ATX: Beat RED.Overlord and lost to Mildly Intoxicated.

ATXI: Beat CAStabouts and The Fourth DIstrict, lost to CVA and SCUM.

ATXII: Lost to No Holes Barred and Triumvirate.

ATXIII: Beat Forsaken Federation, lost to The R0NIN, beat RAZOR Alliance and Northern Coalition. Before being eliminated by Phoebe Freeport Republic.

In short, these guys are fucking insane, each year bringing completely off the wall teams and sticking to their guns, for example in ATXIII focusing on undermanned MJD battleship teams. Whenever these guys play, you know they’re going to bring the wow factor.

RAZOR Alliance

Formed: 23/09/2005

First Match: Arena 1 16:30 vs. MOIST.

The second oldest alliance competing in the feeder tournament behind Red Alliance, RAZOR has a long and storied history in the politics of EVE Online, but let’s look at their tournament results over the years:

ATIX: Ro4 finish beating Wild Boars, Outbreak., SOLAR, We form VOLTRON and losing to HYDRA.

ATX: Beat Dirt Nap Squad and lost to HYDRA.

ATXI: Beat Babylon 5, lost to Late Night Alliance and Choke point.

ATXII: Lost to Clockwork Pineapple, beat Ineluctable., The Initiative, SOLAR FLEET and were eliminated by THE R0NIN.

ATXIII: Lost to Nihilists Social Club, beat The Kadeshi, eliminated by R.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

RAZOR Alliance have gone through leadership in recent years, though are now kind of a part of the DRF Coalition. Historically RAZOR have been a pretty reasonable team, but have fallen on harder times in terms of results in more recent years as the average skill level of teams has increased seemingly exponentially.

Red Alliance

Formed: 21/02/2005

First Match: Arena 1 19:30 vs. Brothers in Arms Alliance

The oldest alliance participating in the feeder bracket, Red Alliance were one of the first Russian Alliances along with SOLAR, but much more hated and eventually evicted in the historic battle of C-6, fighting off the masses of the unwashed horde of pre-doctrine EVE Online with a small stack of Tempests and dreadnoughts.

Red Alliance are making their third appearance in the alliance tournament, their first being all the way back in ATIII where they lost to the eventual winners, Band of Brothers. Fast forward nine years to ATXII, then Red Alliance go 0-2 to CVA and Monkeys with Guns. I would assume that it is a new team putting in for this year, so it will be interesting to see what such an old and experienced alliance can produce.

Red vs Blue

Formed: 20/09/2009

First Match: Arena 2 15:30 vs. Requiem Eternal

RvB are the premiere highsec PvP organisation for newer players, two corporations in constant war in (mostly) cheap ships pewing all day every day. RvB have waxed and waned over the years, but always been a solid supporter of the EVE tournament scene with their RvB Cup.

ATIX: Lost to White Noise, beat Babylon5., lost to SOLAR.

ATX: Beat Get off my Lawn, lost to Suddenly Spaceships, beat Rote Kapelle and Kill it with Fire

ATXII: Bye vs CODE. (who didn’t show up)., beat Agony Empire, lost to Nulli Secunda and Shadow Cartel.

ATXIV: Lost to THE R0NIN, beat SAMURAI SOUL’d OUT, eliminated by Rote Kapelle.

RvB had a rough draw last year, having to go through THE R0NIN and Rote Kapelle so early in the tournament. RvB historically have been a solid mid to lower-mid tier team, I absolutely expect them to make it into the main tournament but struggle to get past the second weekend.

Rejection of Sovereignty

Formed: 23/07/2016

First Match: Arena 1 18:00 vs. Sleeping Dragons

Formed by Apotheosis, the splinter faction from Spaceship Monkey’s Alliance created by CSM11’s Kyle Aparthos, Rejection of Sovereignty are a wormhole focused group taking their first stab at tournament play.

Requiem Eternal

Formed: 18/11/2013

First Match: Arena 2 15:30 vs. Red vs Blue

Making their tournament debut last year in ATXIV, Requiem Eternal are a fairly casual group in EVE who are part of a larger multi-gaming organisation. They lost to Feign Disorder in their first game, but then managed to take a game from Affirmative before being eliminated by Snuffed Out. Taking a single game is a great achievement for a first time effort, so let’s see if RE can take that and turn it into a greater run this year.

Rote Kapelle (with Rote Works)

Formed: 30/10/2008

First Match: Arena 2 16:30 vs. Hole Control

Rote are old hands at the tournament game, a very well respected team who unfortunately have shown to be past their prime in recent years. I long for a Rote resurgence but each year we see more of their old members leave the game or move to other groups.

ATVIII: Lost to HYDRA in the Ro16

ATX: Beat Percussive Pizza Time Diplomacy, Fluffeh Bunneh Murder Squad, Kill it with Fire, Pandemic Legion and then lost to Verge of Collapse and Red versus Blue.

ATXI: Beat Wormhole Holders, The Fourth District, Verge of Collapse, lost to THE R0NIN and Agony Empire.

ATXII: Beat The Fearless Empire, SCUM. and Ministry of Inappropriate Footwork, lost to Pandemic Legion and THE R0NIN.

ATXIII: Beat Affirmative., lost to Dead Terrorists, beat Scary Wormhole People, eliminated by Out of Sight.

ATXIV: Beat Dream Fleet, lost to The Tuskers Co., beat Red vs Blue, eliminated by Paisti Syndicate.

The institutional knowledge and experience will absolutely help Rote pick up a few games, but year after year that seems to be wearing off. We will have to wait and see if this year is the year Rote makes a comeback and shows us that they have their mojo back.

Salt Farmers

Formed: 09/05/2017

First Match: Arena 1 18:30 vs. senseless intentions

About as young as an alliance can be to be in the tournament this year, Salt Farmers are a German LowSec PvP alliance from where half the teams this year seem to originate, northern FW lowsec, in this case specifically Okkamon. They claim to be taking the tournament VERY seriously, so perhaps we will see German efficiency rule the tournament this year?

SAMURAI SOUL’d OUT

Formed: 27/01/2016

First Match: Arena 2 15:00 vs. Army of New Eden

Samurai made their first appearance in the tournament scene last year in ATXIV where they had a really bad draw, first round hitting Free Gates Coalition (the old HUN Reloaded team) only to meet RvB in the losers bracket. Army of New Eden should not pose nearly as much of an obstacle, so maybe we’ll get to see a little more of the Samurai this year.

senseless intentions

Formed: 28/06/2014

First Match: Arena 1 18:30 vs. Salt Farmers

An all lower case alliance name? It’s a bold move Cotton, let’s see how it plays out. senseless intentions are a small, middle-aged German corp who lived in Curse before they took a few systems for the ISK. Apparently their man in charge entered the tournament because it was cheap and for the lols, but they’re going to give it a good go regardless and are hoping to perform well in the feeder rounds.

Shadow Cartel

Formed: 26/11/2008

First Match: Arena 1 13:00 vs. Asteria Concord.

Shadow Cartel as a Tournament is a sad story soon to span six years of play, but first, watch this fucking insane match from ATXII.

ATX: Beat The Kadeshi, Suddenly Spaceships, Gypsy Band and lost to Tribal Conclave, Percussive Pizza Time Diplomacy and Nulli Secunda.

ATXI: Beat Noir. and Urine Alliance (Snuff Box), lost to Darkside. and M.I.F.

ATXII: Beat The G0dfathers, lost to Pandemic Legion, then beat The Fearless Empire, WAFFLES. and Red vs. Blue before finally falling to The Afterlife.

ATXIII: Beat Pandemic Horde, Northern Coalition, THE R0NIN, lost to Pandemic Legion, beat The Gorgon Empire and Spawn, eliminated by The Tuskers Co.

ATXIV: Lost to A Band Apart. and SOLAR FLEET.

Notice anything? Between ATXIII and ATXIV SC lost their AT core and went from being kingslayers who nearly eliminated PL themselves to going 0-2 to teams who barely rank as mid-tier. A lowsec powerhouse for years the year round, it was a incredibly disappointing to see such an awesome and unique team take such a nosedive in terms of results.

Sleeping Dragons

Formed: 04/02/2013

First Match: Arena 1 18:00 vs. Rejection of Sovereignty

Sleeping Dragons are a WH group who are taking their first run at the AT. Unfortunately we could not get in contact with them before this article was published and thus do not have more information to share.

Snuffed Out

Formed: 06/11/2014

First Match: Arena 1 15:00 vs. ChaosTheory.

Snuff Box vs Shadow Cartel were the two opposite powers in LowSec in recent times, with Cartel on the decline Snuff have more recently been teaming up with Project.Mayhem and Waffles in order to be able to take on the NullSec powers and be more able to give and take punches in the scale of null bloc warfare

ATXI: (As URINE Alliance) Lost to The G0fathers, beat Kill it With Fire, eliminated by Shadow Cartel.

ATXIV: Beat Quebec United Legion, lost to 404 Alliance Not Found, beat Requiem Eternal, eliminated by A Band Apart.

Snuff are yet to impress us with a deep run in the AT, but I can absolutely see this year being their year to win a few more matches and show us a little more of what they’ve got.

Solar Fleet

Formed: 03/04/2008

First Match: Arena 1 16:00 vs. Iron Armada

Solar are probably the most well know Russian group of EVE players, with their spiritual forever home in the galactic east they have lost and retaken countless times, they are a huge part of the history of the game.

ATVII: Beat Veni Vidi Vici, Lost to Dystopia Alliance

ATVIII: Lost to Panda Team

ATIX: Beat Babylon 5.., Lost to White Noise, Beat RvB, Lost to RAZOR Alliance

ATX: Lost to Dead Terrorists and Brick Squad.

ATXI: Lost to HYDRA RELOADED, beat Darkspawn., lost to M.I.F.

ATXII: Beat the Devil’s Warrior Alliance, lost to Feign Disorder, beat Choke Point, lost to RAZOR Alliance

ATXIV: Lost to Villore Accords, beat Shadow Cartel and Out of Sight, eliminated by Phoebe Freeport Republic.

Despite seven attempts so far in the AT, SOLAR have never had that one deep run, despite picking up a few games here or there along the way. I feel like they are a team that absolutely could do a little better than they have historically and surprise us with a deep run, but the stars have yet to align. Will they do so this year? We’ll have to wait and see.

Solyaris Chtonium

Formed: 16/09/2009

First Match: Arena 1 17:30 vs. Men with Fancy Hats

SLYCE are a GotG member alliance with a nicely sized TQ presence up in Deklein. In terms of the tournament, SLYCE have gained a captain from Tri and have, thanks to King Voodoo, a great little youtube channel (if with some *interesting* music choices) of some of their scrims with other groups, most prominently Iron Armada.

Spaceship Bebop

Formed: 04/09/2014

First Match: Arena 2 13:00 vs. Pen Is Out

Another GalMil team, Bebop are making their first run at the tournament this year.

Spectre Fleet Alliance

Formed: 17/04/2016

First Match: Arena 2 18:30 vs. Goonswarm Federation

Spectre Fleet are the most well known NPSI community, especially after absorbing the RvB ganked fleets some time ago. Last year in their first run their focus was on hull tanked battleships, then losing them to ECM teams, complaining about ECM being overpowered, then bringing an ECM team and losing with it. That may be a little unfair but at the time it seemed amusing. Spectre beat Fraternity, The Explicit Alliance, lost to Pandemic Legion and then were eliminated by A Band Apart.

Templis CALSF

Formed: 24/02/2012

First Match: Arena 2 18:00 vs. Heirs of Nothing (with I Aim To Misbehave)

More northern FW combatants, but this time from the squids. CALSF are making their second go at the tournament this year after going 2-1 in their first run last year, picking up a game against End of Life but losing to IT’S ONLY PIXELS and Paisti Syndicate. They have a hard match ahead of them against the new Goonswarm team, but it’s certainly not impossible for them to cause an upset here.

Test Alliance Please Ignore

Formed: 12/05/2010

First Match: Arena 1 13:30 vs. Badfellas Inc.

Now part of the Legacy Coalition down south with C02 after the Tribute war, TEST are one of the most recogniseable alliances in the game, certainly the one with the best propaganda thanks to the extraordinarily skilled Cymek.

ATXI: Beat Sicarus Draconis and RAZOR Alliance, lost to Late Night Alliance and SCUM.

ATXII: Beat Ushra’Khan, lost to TNT, beat HUN Reloaded, Easily Excited, Feign Disorder and Pasta Syndicate, eliminated by HYDRA RELOADED.

ATXIII: Beat Drop the Hammer, lost to Vox Populi, beat The WeHurt Initiative, Easily Excited, The G0dfathers and were eliminated by THE R0NIN.

ATXIV: Beat Scary Wormhole People, lost to Northern Coalition, eliminated by Fraternity.

Test have always been a team for me that exemplified what the tournament can do for a group of committed EVE players. Even during the height of the glamorising of being bad at the game and love of incompetence in TEST culture, their tournament team was the complete opposite, being a consistently upper-mid tier team, even introducing a new comp archetype into the meta in ATXII called the “pseudotinker”, which very few teams can claim to have done to any real success. That said,m I was very surprised to see TEST eliminated so early from the bracket last year. Losing to NC. is not a shock considering the strength of that team last year, but being beaten by Fraternity was a pretty decent upset.

The Explicit Alliance

Formed: 13/05/2013

First Match: Arena 2 16:00 vs. WAFFLES.

The Explicit ALliance have seen very little change since I looked at them last year, still holding SOv over in Tenerifis and the Spire and meanwhile have acquired a rather lovely alliance logo.

ATXIII: Lost to Hard Knocks, beat A Band Apart and were eliminated by Northern Coalition.

ATXIV: Beat Badfellas Inc., lost to Spectre Fleet Alliance, eliminated by White Legion.

Both years so far Explicit have gone 1-2 out of the tournament, maybe this year is their year to make a deeper run?

The Society For Unethical Treatment Of Sleepers

Formed: 02/07/2016

First Match: Arena 2 17:00 vs. R.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N

The Society’s tournament experience is the 5v5 series last FanFest, and despite wanting to get involved in the tournament for a while, it was difficult for them to find the willingness, SP and ISK to put together a team. This year however, with a big push, they’ve managed to pull a team together for their first run at the tournament.

The-Culture

Formed: 04/09/2015

First Match: Arena 2 14:30 vs. Wormhole Society

The EUTZ splinter faction from the infamous Black Legion, The-Culture make their return to the tournament after an explosive first attempt last year, beating Brotherhood of Spacers and CVA, before losing to Exodus. And Dream Fleet which as a 2-2 record on your first time out is fantastic for any first timer. I absolutely expect to see them in the main bracket this year and look forward to see how they have used their experience last year to propel themselves forwards.

WAFFLES.

Formed: 21/08/2013

First Match: Arena 2 16:00 vs. The Explicit Alliance

Waffles, originally a feeder corp for Sniggerdly, the founding (and best) corp in Pandemic Legion since their rebranding to Waffles 2.0 have become a serious player in LowSec politics, as well as often teaming up with Snuff Box and Project Mayhem to form “Project Snufflebox” to take on even larger established powers in nullsec.

ATXI (As Your Votes Don’t Count): Beat Of Sound Mind, beat Circle of Two, lost to THE R0NIN, beat Nulli Secunda and were eliminated by Verge of Collapse.

ATXII: Lost to Ministry of inappropriate Footwork, beat Mortuus., beat The Methodical Alliance and were eliminated by Shadow Cartel.

ATXIII: Lost to Tactical Narcotics Team and were eliminated by Brothers in Arms Alliance

ATXIV: Lost to The Tuskers Co., eliminated by Dream Fleet.

Waffles got a crappy seed last year against the eventual winners in The Tuskers Co., but then we saw them fall immediately after in the losers bracket to Dream Fleet who did fairly well as well. I’ve heard a multitude of reasons as to why this was, so I can only hope my old bros have not taken it too hard and regained their confidence to give us a better showing this year.

Wormhole Society

Formed: 26/04/2017

First Match: Arena 2 14:30 vs. The-Culture

Wormhole Society live in a C2 with a HiSec static and are focused on helping newer players get accustomed to the wormhole life. They’ve wanted to participate in previous years, but as with many teams, have only found that opportunity in the new feeder round. They have a captain, Tibblist, with a great attitude, but a rough first match against The-Culture who are a hard target for such a young team.