Welcome back to Picture Perfect, the column in which we analyse notable photographs from army history. Join me as we investigate Aces of AUSIA, the first formal AUSIA tournament and the last championship of the Adobe Flash era.
Designed by Cassie
Despite making up a large portion of the Club Penguin army community since 2013, individuals from Australia and Asia hadn’t had a tournament organised solely for their time-zones. This drought ended when Army of Club Penguin Guardian Mchappy announced the Aces of AUSIA tournament on the 17th of November, 2020. With ACP’s Shamrock Bulletin set to host, Aces of AUSIA initially planned to include between 10 to 20 armies for the opening round. However, likely due to the ongoing Christmas Chaos X and a lack of AUSIA divisions in numerous armies, only 9 armies opted to participate. Regardless of the muted turnout, Aces of AUSIA was set to serve as the largest celebration of the AUSIA community thus far.
Official Aces of AUSIA graphic
Opening ceremony and round one
Before any formal battles took place, the tournament opened with a meetup of all participating armies on the 28th of November. Referred to as the Great AUSIA Gathering, almost 100 users met on White House to represent their army in a classic snowball fight. The Army of Club Penguin claimed this to be the largest gathering of AUSIA members from throughout the community, though the grand finals would feature a much larger turnout. With the opening ceremony concluded, the tournament began with its first round between the Secret Service and Lava Crusaders. However, as LC chose to merge into another army before the battle, Secret Service managed to secure victory unchallenged.
Aces of AUSIA Great AUSIA Gathering
round two
The second round of battles began with a clash between the Army of Club Penguin and the Secret Service. Though the Agents fought their hardest, the Clovers completely outnumbered their opponents with 33 troops online, resulting in a 3-0-0 victory for ACP. Subsequently, the Help Force secured a win in a match with the Pizza Federation, the latter of which did not show up for the battle. The Red Ravagers faced the Dark Champions in a small/medium army brawl, with both armies performing similarly in size. Through their formations and tactical prowess, RR proceeded to the next round after securing 2 rooms. The last battle of the round featured a brawl between the Silver Empire and Special Weapons and Tactics. While neither army held a size advantage, SE’s speed and neater formations allowed them to defeat SWAT with a score of 2-1-0.
Round 2: ACP vs SS
round Three
With only 4 armies left in the tournament, Round Three started when the Silver Empire faced off with the Help Force. With a turnout of 63 penguins for the Helpers, the Silvers found themselves overwhelmed in every capacity. Similarly, the Red Ravagers could not match the size demonstrated by the Army of Club Penguin. Both HF and ACP comfortably achieved 3-0-0 victories in their battles, leaving both armies in competition for the Aces of AUSIA trophy.
Round 3: HF vs SE
finals (round four)
On the 20th of December, two AUSIA titans clashed for the chance of securing a historic victory. Both armies set personal AUSIA records, with the Clovers amassing 77 troops and the Help Force maxing 85 online. This battle remains the largest AUSIA event in history, as 160+ users were recorded in attendance. Neither army maintained a significant size advantage in the first room, but HF’s better formations and bombs secured them the first room win.
Aces of AUSIA Finals: HF vs ACP
The Helpers maintained their momentum into the second room, with the size gap growing between the two armies. Though ACP’s Christmas ornament costumes helped them seem more numerous, the judges deemed the 15+ troop difference enough for another HF victory. The battle only become more one-sided in the third room, with the size divide reaching 30 at one point in favour of the Helpers. Though the Clovers managed to cover the room well, this could not stop Help Force from winning the tournament with a 3-0-0 score.
Aces of AUSIA trophy
Featuring impressive displays of force from the Army of Club Penguin and the Help Force, the Aces of AUSIA tournament was undoubtedly a success. Though sizes were undoubtedly boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, HF’s victory in the first AUSIA tournament cemented themselves in history as an Australian/Asian army powerhouse. With a majority of armies choosing to skip the tournament, we can only speculate how much much larger the tournament could have been if not for a variety of factors. Regardless, the impressive championship paved the way for the impending AUSIA Arena tournaments, and remains a significant milestone in army history.
Sidie9
Associate Editor