I watch as many replays as I can.  The game is short on good replays, especially 1v1, as the top players don't seem to play each other.  The 4s or 5s replays that are posted are often more about team tactics and defeating the weaker players quickly.

If you have Entrenchment, at least one of the 1v1s posted here is fairly good: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/371047

I wouldn't recommend the Advent play entirely- it isn't weak, but stronger Advent players might have better finances, might switch to Illuminators earlier and would take better care of their caps.  However we have so few 1v1 replays that one of a good player against any half-decent opposition is a rare gem.

Iirc, that pack includes one where Cykur illustrates excellently how to hold off Advent Illum spam via a variety of tactics that buy time to rally, outecon, and tech up to the counters, respectively.  That one is worth the pack of it's own right.

What was nice was it wasn't any one thing he did, it was the combination and the observational insights hitting you, observing, over time and repaying analysis attention, as it was complete with multiple fleet engagements such that even while you thought he was struggling becuase he had to run several times and lost and reclaimed a planet in a rapid flipflop....you come to realize all the battles were buying time as a clearly planned / intended side effect, and the reclaim clearly leveraged Advent having a hard time seiging planets, and a stronger econ can afford to trade pieces, and so forth.

Whereas the 5v5 alleged 'sova power' one in that pack was just silly.  One side had personal infighting and total disarray, as so many 5v5s seem to.  Perhaps there was some sova use in a map corner in the beginning, but was a sketchy 5v5 to exhibit as replay for educational value.  Though every replay is in some sense gold when there are so few.

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There is also a 5v5 floating around somewhere (apologies, I don't know what thread it came from, was not that zip pack of 4), where the majority of players are good and the game ends up, luckily enough, devolved into essential 5 simulatenous 1v1s, as the attacking of neighbors happens to result in face-offs rather than 2v1s or pockets.  So much to learn from that one on rush and defense and colonization techniques, imho, speaking as a newcomer.  I've only watched it once via one perspective and intend to rewatch several times.

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There's a thread here with a lot.  https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/342141 

Though it goes up to 1.04.  I don't know if that means 1.041 won't play any.  About to find out.

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I would love to see, however, a 1v1 between TWO top players, true metagame vs metagame zen dance, rather than various outwitting of mid-tier spamage, albiet I learned enormously from observing.  I have yet to find one of those anywhere on forums, though I'm just arrived to SINS.

-evoke