posted May 15th, 2018 - The Italian team Amnesya had the title of the 4-way national champion in their minds from the very beginning, and the NSL News has covered the pursuit of this goal regularly, including the exciting battles with eX3MO for the country's top spot.

Amnesya finally accomplished the first mission at the national indoor championship last weekend, where they won an Italian 4-way title for the first time, after outscoring eX3MO by 20 points (299 - 277).

Ex3MO finished with a new record average, significantly higher than ever before at an indoor meet, and the reigning outdoor champions were still not able to stop Amnesya or just get anywhere close.

It was a good battle for the first three rounds when both teams were still tied before going into Round 4. Amnesya won the 3-block sequence in Round 4 by two points, and the faster sequences of the remaining six rounds favored the team and increased the lead consistently.

It was an interesting timing of Amnesya's runaway from eX3MO, as the new indoor champion had to deal with a major obstacle after Round 2.

Inside Center Giuseppe Cossu dislocated his right shoulder in Round 2 during an inter of Block 11 (Photon - Photon). However, he was back in Round 3 with a taped shoulder for a 3-block sequence and more intensive piece-flying, followed by another 3-block sequence in Round 4.

Italian Indoor Nationals 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	Q,14,O,18	C,11,1	19,17,12	2,15,22	P,F,8,H	B,3,9	J,D,16,G	7,20,M	6,13,A	5,N,E,L	Total	Avg
1	Amnesya	28	23	21	23	43	32	36	31	26	36	299	29.9
2	HF eX3MO	27	24	21	21	37	31	33	28	24	31	277	27.7
3	Standby	19	14	15	15	27	21	17	18	17	20	183	18.3
4	44F	16	17	15	13	24	21	21	20	18	15	180	18.0

Giuseppe Cossu's injury did not seem to hold back Amnesya. In fact, the team began to pull away from eX3MO after the Block 11 incident in Round 2.

It was not the first time that Amnesya outscored eX3MO at an indoor competition. It is actually the other way around between the two Italian teams.

HF eX3MO has not been able yet to finish ahead of Amnesya at an indoor event. However, Amnesya did not win the first Italian indoor championships last year, where Ninja 4 took the 1st place by one point (265 - 266).

Amnesya have now won their first national championship title, and they will be eager to follow up with the gold medals at the outdoor nationals.

Last year, Amnesya was first one point short of an extra round for the indoor championship and found themselves in the same situation a few months later at the outdoor nationals, where they lost by one point, as well (197 - 198).

HF eX3MO defended their outdoor title one more time and needed a new record average in a 10-round meet (19.8) to fend off the challenger. EX3MO has a 19.9 average in the team records for the nine rounds at the FAI Mondial 2012.

Italian Indoor Nationals 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	22,L,4	2,E,21	B,O,11	H,F,18	P,6,D	1,K,G	15,7	13,19	A,M,9	14,J,N	Total	Avg
1	Future	16	19	24	23	25	19	18	13	31	23	211	21.1
2	Gamblers	16	18	23	23	22	19	19	15	30	22	207	20.7
3	Amnesya Academy	16	16	23	20	23	21	18	14	28	20	199	19.9
Rank	A Class	G,M,19	D,C,20	O,21	9,N	H,B,4	2,6	A,E,J	15,P	-	-	Total	Avg
1	Rao	20	21	21	22	19	17	34	19	-	-	173	21.6
2	Panik	19	17	18	22	20	16	36	17	-	-	165	20.6
3	Irma	15	15	17	17	18	13	24	14	-	-	133	16.6
4	Lollo	14	14	14	20	15	13	24	9	-	-	123	15.4
5	Huayra	13	11	14	19	15	11	21	11	-	-	115	14.4
Rank	Rookie	M,O,A	G,C,B	Q,L,H	F,P,J	N,D,K	E,P,F	C,M,E	N,D,A	-	-	Total	Avg
1	Onair	24	21	24	34	20	31	23	20	-	-	197	24.6
2	4M	25	18	18	28	20	30	25	21	-	-	185	23.1

Amnesya and eX3MO did not compete directly against each other at Amnesya's first national championship in 2015, where the new team started in the AA Class competition and won the Italian gold medals in this category. Both teams were on the same national AAA Class leaderboard a year later, where eX3MO won with an 18.4 average. Amnesya finished 4th with a 15.1 average.

Another year later, the difference was down to one point, and eX3MO have to expect an even stronger challenger this year. Giuseppe Cossu plans to be fully recovered in three weeks, which gives his team enough time for outdoor training before the national championships in August in Ravenna.

Amnesya was also in a third 1-point situation at this year's indoor championship. They finished with a 29.9 average, one point short of the next benchmark. They simply skipped the 28+ average level after the 27.9 at the FAI European Indoor Championship 2018.

It is easy to see the next indoor goal. However, outdoor competition is now on the Amnesya agenda, and there is a big goal waiting, as well. HF eX3MO has been benefiting from the pressure by posting their own new team record scores, and the preparations for national championships and FAI World Meet 2018 could push the Italian 4-way veterans above the 20-average outdoor level...