The 23rd 'Raven 2' Ancient Citadel tournament has concluded. Participation was up compared to the last cycle, with guilds entering every battlefield in the Korea region, save for the Vegetation zone in Group 4. However, the results tell a story of many unfinished business. It appears several failed to take down Parnak within the time limit. This list of stalemates includes the Vegetation zones in Groups 1, 4, and 6, along with the Life zone in Group 4.

Let's take a look at the other battlefields. Raven 2 saw a flurry of server transfers and character change ticket sales at the end of May. The resulting chaos rippled directly into the Ancient Citadel environment and the Meca Ranking PvP section. Fortunately, things began to stabilise from the 22nd Ancient Citadel in mid-June as various guilds settled into their new servers and started racking up points again.

The 23rd Ancient Citadel followed suit, with reports of multiple victories echoing throughout. The Primordial battlefield, in particular, caught our eye: No-Ppak and UNICEF both secured 3 wins. Meanwhile, veterans of the Ancient Citadel rankings—Independent Fighter, Valentine, and Myth—each notched 2 victories, inching closer to the top of the Raven 2 Ancient Citadel winning rankings. Other zones are also seeing a rise in repeat winners, with Wonso seeing Moomyeonghoe and Andwaeyo-Hyeongbu climb, while Dal-a-Dal-a and Kkun-Kkun-Kkun steadily stacked points in the Life zone.

However, the Vegetation battlefield remains in a slump. This likely ties back to the feedback from recent ranker interviews following the 22nd round. There have been grumblings about the shrinking prize pool for the Ancient Citadel, and it seems the Vegetation zone—offering the lowest rewards—has lost its luster.

Ancient Citadel Victory Ranking

The victory rankings have shifted. Two new guilds joined the 3-win club in the Primordial battlefield, though their outcomes differed. First is UNICEF, a veteran of the previous Raven 2 Guild Championship. Competing in the Group 6 Primordial battlefield, the guild secured a victory, bringing their record to '3/0/1/0'. This propelled them into the TOP 10, sharing 8th place with FRED. Given that FRED appears to be inactive, one might as well consider UNICEF the sole occupant of 8th place.

The No-Ppak guild recorded a '3/0/0/0'. Had this been the 3rd week of June, they would have comfortably cracked the TOP 10. Unfortunately, the entry of UNICEF shifted the existing 9th and 10th place guilds down, raising the bar for everyone else. To make the cut now, one needs a '3/0/0/1' record like Romantics. It’s a cruel coincidence; as is often the case in the Raven 2 victory rankings, a single point decides who makes the list.

Of course, the performance from the No-Ppak guild remains impressive. They landed in a tie for 11th with the displaced Return-Flower-Field. With a bit more effort, they should break into the TOP 10 soon. We shall see how they fare.

Ancient Citadel Content Analysis

As mentioned earlier, server transfers carry significant weight for the Ancient Citadel. The movement and reorganisation of top-tier guilds or alliances completely shift the atmosphere of servers and worlds. Given the influence of 'line' guilds in Raven 2, this is hardly a surprise. On July 2, a minor update heralded the start of the transfer season, which runs until 23:59 on July 8. How will the alliances and rivalries rearrange themselves this time? We will find out in next week's Ancient Citadel rankings, though predicting the participating guilds is, as always, a headache.

Raven 2 Guild Contribution Analysis

As noted, the No-Ppak guild hit 3 wins in the Primordial battlefield, and both iterations of the guild climbed the contribution rankings. Vita-Mors' No-Ppak2 and No-Ppak both rose one spot, reaching 9th and 12th respectively. Additionally, No-Ppak3 on the same server boasts a contribution of 6.648 billion, placing it 5th on the local server. The gap between No-Ppak and the others remains about twofold, so it will take some time for the rest to catch up.

Meanwhile, the Valentine guild of Vita-Fides also climbed one spot to 15th, following a victory in the Group 1 Primordial battlefield this week. Their current Ancient Citadel record stands at a respectable '2/1/1/1'. One more win in the Primordial zone, and they could easily vault into the upper echelons of the multi-win rankings. We look forward to seeing more from them.