With the March server transfers and class change season now behind us in Raven 2, the dust is finally settling on the Ancient Citadel. It’s high time we analysed the guilds gearing up for the next clash, and let’s just say, the concentration of heavy hitters in Lux and Nox is rather eye-watering. These names are poised to dictate the pace of the upcoming matches.

Analysis of Guilds Expected to Participate in the 42nd Ancient Citadel

The Lux world is absolutely packed with formidable contenders

First, let’s look at groups 1 and 2, which are dominated by Lux and Kerum. The power balance has tipped heavily toward Lux, thanks to an influx of massive coalitions like the Royal alliance, Animal Crossing, and Mushin. Mind you, don't be fooled by the 'Royal' prefix—not every guild with that name is part of the same camp. They've split into the Royal alliance, Royal alliance 3, Sasilna, and Slugiroon. Whether they’ll be playing nice or sharpening their knives for each other remains to be seen.

The performance of Animal Crossing and its associated coalition is another point of interest. After racking up points in Element and Battlefield of Life, they managed to secure a victory in the Primal Battlefield during the last Ancient Citadel. This lands them with an overall record of '5 / 9 / 4 / 1', sneaking them into the top 10 of the Raven 2 points leaderboard. One more win in the Primal zone could see them climb two spots higher. The match-ups can't come soon enough.

Over in the Kerum world, we’re looking at the Weird Family alliance of Mors and the L Peace guild. It feels less like a hunt for records and more like a quest for those elusive first-win milestones for many of these crews.

All eyes on Nox, Salus, and Metus

Groups 3 and 4 mirror the trends we saw earlier. The Nox world has become a magnet for Ancient Citadel veterans. If you’ve been grinding Raven 2 for a while, names like Gzone, Valentine, Romantic, and No-ppakku will ring a bell. Romantic and the No-ppakku crews are part of the same 'Promo-anim' alliance. Back in the day, No-ppakku used to employ a strategy of stacking the same battlefield as No-ppakku 2. They’ve recently shaken off their slumber and started farming points again, so I’m curious to see if they’ll dust off that old playbook.

Gzone and Valentine are firmly in the Gongam alliance camp, with Zzone tagging along as what appears to be a Gzone sub-guild. Curiously, there’s a pattern of shared icons among other guilds like Yeong-yeong-i, Our alliance 3, and Baekho that matches Gongam. We should probably treat them as allies until proven otherwise.

Vita and Solare: A clash that promises excitement

While previous groups were heavily lopsided, Vita and Solare promise a much tighter affair. Both sides are fielding guilds with actual championship pedigree. For Vita, we expect RELOAD from Mors and Red Light from Salus to show up. The former sits on a decent '1 / 2 / 2 / 1' record with 6 wins, while the latter holds '2 / 0 / 0 / 1' with 3 wins.

As for Solare, all eyes are on Laon A from Fides and Once a Veteran, Always a Veteran from Dolor. Laon A might lack an Ancient Citadel title, but they did secure a win in the second group of the recent Raven 2 skirmishes. It’ll be fascinating to see if they can carry that momentum forward.

The story behind 'Once a Veteran, Always a Veteran' is a bit more layered. Seven different guilds featuring the name 'Veteran' have etched their names into the Ancient Citadel history books. It’s a legendary lineage in Raven 2, and now a new chapter begins. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the results of groups 5 and 6.

PVP Ranking Status

The PVP rankings in Raven 2 are eerily quiet. Last week we had three players hitting double digits in kills with a high of 40, but this week? Only one player managed 27. The top spot goes to WeirdBarcode from Kerum-Mors. I suspect the class change season (which ended on the morning of March 18) and the weekend skirmishes kept the usual bloodthirsty crowd occupied elsewhere. Now that the transfers and class changes are finished, I’m expecting the kill counts to start climbing again.