The Casino Conflict

TimeDeo
 Icebomb

**The Casino Conflict** was a battle between select members of the Antarctic Empire, Business Bay and Log Lagoon that took place at the C ASS INO on Day 50. Involved individuals include Philza, TommyInnit, TimeDeo, and Icebomb. Spectators such as Wispexe, AllanahVA, and VoiceOverPete offered input and escalated matters from the sidelines.

The conflict would become a catalyst for the Port-aux-Offensive that would occur on Day 58.

## Cause

On Day 50, TommyInnit (Tommy) began building a casino wherein he intended to scam other players for their money. He tested the completed casino on Thunder1408, then decided that it was functional and invited Ph1lza (Phil) to have a turn himself. Phil agreed, and Tommy picked him up and flew him to Business Bay.

Earlier that day, Icebomb (Ice) had been killed repeatedly by TimeDeo (Deo) as retribution for trolling on Minecraft Saturday. Business Bay kept Ice's trident and Protection 4 chest plate following the massacre, though Ice was unwilling to pursue the matter due to the power imbalance. Instead, he decided to get on Tommy's good side by having a turn in his casino. He was there when Tommy and Phil arrived, sitting silently on the chair. He asked for a turn but Tommy indicated that Phil was to go first.

Phil and Tommy noted how depressing Ice seemed, staring blankly into the distance. Phil recalled Ice's earlier stream of player death notifications and asked what Tommy had done to him, though Tommy shifted the blame to Deo. Icebomb put on a mask over his skin; a smiling emoji to hide his torment beneath.

Despite their unexpected somber companion, Tommy and Phil continued as planned. Phil refused to take off his armor, though, claiming that he trusted Tommy "...as far as [he] can throw [him]." Tommy seemed upset by this but was money hungry enough to let it slide. On edge but curious, Phil put in his first bet: one diamond. Tommy did not scam this time, attempting to win Phil's trust, but the participant lost anyway. Annoyed, he threatened to rob the casino but held back for the time being. Instead, he put forward another bet: Tommy's life.

Scared, this time Tommy did cheat the system, making sure that he was able to keep his life. Phil seemed put off but was distracted again by Ice's vacant stare. When he approached the morose player, Ice cowered away, and Tommy mentioned that he likely had PTSD from players in diamond armor from the earlier events with TimeDeo. Just as Phil's concern was growing, his chat sent him a clip of Tommy rigging the system earlier to save his life. That was enough for him, so he stole the casino's store of 50 diamonds and flew away to perch ominously in a nearby tree.

Despite the act of aggression, the battle did not break out. Deo, who had been lurking nearby, joined the call with a lust for blood but Tommy convinced him that Phil was too powerful to take on. Instead, he banned Phil officially from the casino. Ice, who had been hiding from Deo by Phil, was blown up by a creeper; his first death of the encounter,

Tensions seemed to be settling when Wispexe (Wisp), too busy snacking on a chocolate bar to join the game, entered the call. He and Tommy began bickering as Ice, finally, also joined the call. He expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Business Bay had kept his items, and Phil demanded they be returned to him. Tommy refused, and a battle broke out.

## The Battle

Initially, Phil did not engage, merely watching from his tree. Ice went straight for Tommy, who wasn't wearing armor and killed him. In response, Deo killed Ice again twice. Tommy shot at Phil, again though it didn't do any damage, Phil considered it an invitation to join the fight. The Antarctic Empire enemied Business Bay (again).

Phil killed Tommy easily, then turned on the better geared Deo. Their battle was typical for 1.14 combat: long, drawn-out and with little gain from either party. Despite his unwillingness to fight Phil, Tommy was convinced by his chat to back up Deo. Somehow, while engaged in combat, Deo also managed to kill Ice three more times. VoiceOverPete (Pete) and AllanahVa (Allanah) also joined the call to watch events unfold with Wisp.

Throughout the 1v1 between Deo and Phil, the fight mostly remained equal. Despite Philza's advantage in his equipment, he was outmatched in combat skills, making the fight more even (however over a long period, Pete suspects that Philza would have won due to his gear not going to break). While Wisp and Pete spectated, they noted that the fight was "the fight of the century" implying that it was a very even fight despite Philza's equipment advantage. Eventually, Tommy reconvened with Deo after killing Icebomb and started fighting Phil. Backed into a corner, Philza bombed them a second time. Stupidly, Tommy ran straight into the bombing (lol) and died (this made Deo laugh out of the stupidity of his comrade).

The battle ended when the parties got bored of 1.14 PVP and agreed to call it a day. Phil kept the diamonds and killed Tommy once more by shooting him as he flew gracefully by. Wisp finished his chocolate. Allanah and Pete returned to their build. Deo and Tommy closed the casino for the day. Ice was shot by a skeleton and died once more, securing him with more than three times the deaths of anyone else in the battle.

## Aftermath

* Antarctic Empire gained 50 diamonds from the casino chest.
	+ At the same time, Ph1lzA was banned from the casino.
* Business Bay gained diamond equipment from Icebomb, as well as 77 diamonds.
	+ The diamond equipment was returned 2 days after the conflict.

* The Antarctic Empire made themselves neutral with Business Bay once more, though Phil hinted to his chat that it was not out of the pursuit of peace, but for a more sinister reason.

## Trivia

* The events of this conflict seem to prove that the Antarctic Empire and Business Bay are physically incapable of interacting without declaring war on each other.
* Although the conflict was not originally considered part of The Great SMPEarth War, it was later confirmed as a motive for the Port-aux-Offensive on Day 58.