Ascendancy

Full Name: Ascendancy Tag: Varies Public IRC Channel: None Alliance motto: Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running. Affectionate nickname: *scendancy Website: http://munin.ascendancy.tv/ Status: Active (but not really playing).

Ascendancy was started by Rob and jesterina in late round 15 with the aims of breaking as many conventions about how alliances should be run as possible. Ascendancy won round 16, primarily via playing for XP, while most alliances remained in a traditional value playing style in a round where XP was a far more viable method of gaining score.

Ascendancy went on to hold the #1 galaxy spot in round 19 while playing more conventionally for value. Round 20 saw Ascendancy dominate the top planet ranks and finish 4th as an alliance while once again playing primarily for XP. After this the viability of playing purely for XP was permanently reduced. In round 21 Ascendancy once again played for value quite successfully, with the second highest number of top 100 planets after the winning alliance Wolfpack.

In round 25 Ascendancy emerged from a two round hiatus and, utilising the tactic of distorter-whoring, were one of the top alliances. However despite the memorable nature of this tactic it proved unsuccessful in terms of score accumulation and Ascendancy only finished in 5th position. Round 26 saw Ascendancy, playing under the tag name STOOMTHEREVIVAL with almost entirely Zikonian planets, strike from 7th to 1st place, knocking long-time round leaders Denial from the top spot in the last week, with the assistance of a number of other alliances. Round 27 then saw a slightly weaker Ascendancy finish as one of the top 3 alliances in a tightly contested round won by Denial.

Round 28 marked the start of an unprecedented four-in-a-row winning streak for Ascendancy. This was perhaps Ascendancy's most dominant round and one in which they were #1 for almost the entire round bar a few ticks early on. Following this in Round 29 Ascendancy appeared to take a backseat to begin with but, after targeting the early round leaders, Denial, with ND and Audentes, Ascendancy were able to climb into the top spot and hold off a short-lived block attempt to take them down. Round 30 marked the first time an alliance had ever won 3 rounds in a row. Heavily concentrated in core galaxies, a tactic they had used frequently over the rounds, they were able to battle back after very heavy incoming throughout the round to take the top spot. Moving into Round 31 Ascendancy seemed to be clear favourites. However a block consisting of virtually all other major alliances was able to knock them down to #2, until xVx changed sides and allied Ascendancy, leading to them rising back into the #1 spot.

Round 32 saw a much smaller Ascendancy, following a member purge, finish in 4th place and managing to achieve success in planet and galaxy ranks again. This round also saw the rise of Apprime, who Ascendancy then defeated in Round 33 to take their seventh round win. In Round 34 Ascendancy, allied to their enemy of the previous round Apprime, finished in second place behind Apprime. Round 35 saw a much smaller alliance idle their way through the round, with most of the active Ascendancy members having moved to Apprime for that round. Round 36 saw a somewhat larger Ascendancy faff around the universe and generally make a complete nuisance of themselves, something which they continued into Round 37.

Ascendancy ceased being an active alliance after Round 39. Some version of the tag persisted for a while longer, in the capable hands of Gzambo, while many of their players kept playing, though in other alliances.

Arguably the first signs of a possible return were the Fightin Irish, HEROES, TRAITORS and HODORS tags that played some of the rounds between Round 45 and Round 61, but the official return happened in Round 62. The first half of the round elapsed fairly quietly, with Ascendancy keeping out of a long drawn-out war between Conspiracy and Black Flag on one side and Ultores on the other. This allowed the tag to grow to #1 value, score and size by tick 800, unexpectedly creating an opening to go for round win. Unfortunately, two separate attempts to do so failed, and Ascendancy ended #4.

Ascendancy returned for Round 63, then played a couple more rounds in the 60s and 70s, before largely becoming dormant. Over the next few years, many ex-Ascendancy and ex-ROCK players played as part of the HEROES alliance, a non-traditional fleetcatch-oriented alliance.

Ascendancy returned once again for Round 100 for what was planned to be one last flash of glory, ending second after a very close race, however since then, the alliance has continued to play under various names, invariably themed after the names of individual members.

Ascendancy's domination of the game from round 28 up to 35 led to them being considered a superpower. They had a group of members who seek out and cause trouble on the forums - known as the Ascendancy Troll Squad.

But hey, some of them are allegedly decent people despite ample evidence to the contrary.

Rankings

• Round 16: #1
• Round 17: #125
• Round 18: #21
• Round 19: #17
• Round 20: #5
• Round 21: #2
• Round 22: #13, #23 (as Transcendancy) and #27 (as Descendancy)
• Round 23: #20
• Round 24: #44
• Round 25: #5
• Round 26: #1 (as STOOMTHEREVIVAL)
• Round 27: #3
• Round 28: #1
• Round 29: #1
• Round 30: #1
• Round 31: #1 (as TOOT THE ALLIANCE) and #18 (as TOOT THE SUPPORT TAG)
• Round 32: #4
• Round 33: #1
• Round 34: #2
• Round 35: #14
• Round 36: #13 (as THINLYVEILEDTHREAT)
• Round 37: #5 (as eXiIition)
• Round 38: #3 (as WE ARE ASCENDANCY)
• Round 39: #3
• Round 43: #15
• Round 44: #16 (as bread|scendancy)
• Round 45: #24 (as ARSENDANCY)
• Round 62: #4
• Round 63: #12 (as ASSCENDANCY)
• Round 68: #11 (as VORHERRSCHAFT)
• Round 69: #12 (as EMOCRACY)
• Round 73: #22 (as AsCeNdAnCy)
• Round 74: #14 (as ASCENDANCY)
• Round 75: #18 (as Annescendancy)
• Round 76: #19
• Round 77: #20
• Round 100: #2 (as EMOTIONAL DAMAGE)
• Round 101: #7 (as BENNEHFITS)
• Round 102: #7 (as ADJUHHSTING)
• Round 103: #3 (as EXZHILARATING)
• Round 104: #7 (as RUM AND RUIN)
• Round 105: #6 (as FRUIT LOOPS)