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| Euroq2l #18 IRC: #euroq2l | GTV: skuller.net / gtv.digitalfrag.net
Sign ups: off
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Players limit: 20
User's clans: on
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We can all agree semifinals were pretty disappointing.  v3 failed to give real challenge to  play> and HBQ versus  Wizards ended up being one mapper and w/o. How ever we can expect more from the final. Two active clans going at each other, while both being one of the top clans for almost a decade, so it is not total injustice to see swedish play> facing Wizards from Finland in Div I final in our 12th edition of Euroq2l.
Who? play> vs Wizards
When? Thursday 17th December 2009 @ 20:30cet
Ways to follow:
GTV @ skuller.net + commentary
Video with audio
Click comments to read more...
We have an awesome final on our hands. Counting final places these two clans are the most successful clans in whole Euroq2l history, combined 10 final appearances and they have met twice before in the finals both winning once. How ever circumstances are a bit different with these two. play have years of experience together with this team, when Wizards are going to the final with two relatively new faces in their lineup. So far it has worked out well, last three season Wizards have lost in semifinals, tho this year they didnt even get a chance to lose there, but that only gives them more reason to show in the final that they belong there and leave no room for ifs. play is the opposite, they have been pretty successful lately in Euroq2l by reaching finals 3 times in past 4 season, but capturing only one title last spring, so they are the defending champions.
If this is a battle of two dominating clans this is also battle of many highly skilled players. First thing most of the people will think after hearing play and Wizards are their top players purri and provi who have made their names in duels as well as in teamplay. Sure, they both play a big part in their teams success, but this is not going to be showdown between those two. Some are waiting one-on-one q2dm3 battle at rail like back in the days, but in modern q2 there is no room for one-on-one. Both players will get considerable amout of help from their teammates and eventually that will be the key which one of those heavyweights wins the battle and leads their team to the victory. Or it might be somebody else who takes the herocape and be a difference maker. Both team as are filled with skilled players and almost anyone of them can do that. Especially quadtakers are always in big role even if it doesnt always show on a scoreboard. We cant be 100% sure with the lineups yet, but whether it is shugger or pogo taking quad for play all is possible. In Wizards thaigo and Offi are also capable of doing damage with quad. Quad sure is powerful item, but it also draws attention to you and is ofter killed in no time. Next best thing is no doubtly railgun and it is needless to say that anyone of the players can get hot and shoot the lights out. Both teams have strong maps, which they should win, but after those are over, the final really begins and it all comes down to small things, like one missed rail against weak quad, can lead it to sweep the whole map and make you lose control of the map. Or missed item, miss timed weapon or anything as small as this, what you wouldnt think really matter unless it is for the title and the deciding frags in the 5th map of the final!
Clans:
Play>
Players: purri, pogo,  shugger, optimizer, mobius and ph
Titles: Season #8 and #11
2nd places: Season #2, #6 and #9
Wizards:
Players: thaigo, provi, Offi, gerppa, slippi
Titles: Season #3 and #6
2nd places: Season #4, #5 and #8
Previous finals between play and Wizards:
Interviews:
Before the map breakdown, we asked some questions, on and off concerning up coming game, from players who are attending in the final! Here are the lucky four.
Interview with play>mobius
Now that you know your opponent in finals, do you think Wizards are more favourable opponent for you than HBQ?
play>mobius: Generally speaking yes. We have a better record versus Wizards than versus HBQ. But comparing Wizards' current shape to HBQ's it's a definite no.
Wizards will most likely pick q2next1, so what is your take on q2next1, some seems to love and some absolutely hate it.?
play>mobius: Might be speaking for myself now, but we don't hate it. But to be honest, we don't have a great variety when practicing. It's mostly q2dm1 and q2dm3 over and over since we think they're the most fun. The other q2dm maps we have learned very well too thanks to years of experience of clans picking such maps against us in hope we might play worse on them! q2next1 is relatively new but we're getting better on that too as clans such as Wizards and rage
Like you said, it is not a strong map for play. Have you give it extra thoughs or are you just go in and hope for better results than in the past?
play>mobius: Well, not much time left to start practicing it now :) We might cook together some magic secret and non-tested tactic before the game though. Or on a good day, we can beat many clans just with individual skills.
Ok, little something about you and your positions in each map. How did you end up playing all the left over position? Was it like in streetgames that, the worst (no offence) player will be a goalkeeper?
play>mobius: After many years I think we all have just kind of naturally fallen into our positions. My positions are lift/mega on dm1, RA on dm2 a bit of a special dm3 position, rocket on dm6 and rocket on dm7. Haven't really thought about them in your terms. But I think the simplest explanation is that they all involve rocket which is my absolutely strongest weapon. On other maps I have pretty standard positions though.
So you really like to play those positions? Quite rare with my experience, but after all they are very crucial positions on some maps and should not be over looked
play>mobius: It's fun when we all play on our 'right' position, because it usually results in a great game flow and good results for us. And the position are not as static as they may sound. If lift on dm1 becomes 'boring' it generally means I need to help in mega. The dm3 position is really fun though.
That is because dm3 is such a great map. :) But, what are your expectations for the final and what can you promise for the audiance?
play>mobius: I think this final will be great. Both teams seem eager. We both have at least one strong map each and with our best lineups it's difficult to say what will happen on the other maps. That is why the audience must love this final :) I think a 5-mapper seems very probable.
Hopefully so, good luck for the final and give us a good show!
Interview with play>Pogo
Do you think it's difficult for mid division 1 teams to get on top and actually get some real victory? Of course we saw some map wins for teams like tOk / Rage / v3 over some top teams, but in the finals we always see the same top teams again and again. Why do you think things are like that?
play>pogo: Well I think the top have traditionally consisted of only a few teams and then some who are still very good but not quite "up there".However lately I think this is changing and these days pretty much any div1 team can win any other div1 team on a good day. A recent example of that is hbq-v3 (and also hbq-bod) which surprised a lot of people, but tbh you really can't underestimate teams in div1. It's never a guaranteed victory even if the paper says so
Play seems to be in really good shape. You didn't lose any official match for almost a year now. Do you think finals will be walk in the park for you or do you expect Wizards to cause you any troubles? If so, can you elaborate it a bit?
play>pogo: Like I said in reply to the last question, a walk in the park is the last thing we expect. Wizards have been doing really well lately and they have gotten a lot of practise in the last week. However, I obviously still think and hope we will win :) But I expect Wizards to put up a good fight on every map. Would be more of a surprise if they didn't imo.
What do you think about activity around Quake 2? There are less teams in EuroQ2L, less players in EDL. Do you think the game is fading away?
play>pogo: The activity is always a bit up and down in q2, this season seems to be more of a down year with many people playing quake live instead. But also remember that q2 had competition from other games numerous times and always managed to stay alive, and I don't think this time will be any different. EDL just sucks this year because they removed dm3. :)
What would you hope more from the current scene to make it better?
play>pogo: Things like what you are doing right now! =) What is needed more than anything is admins/people who are motivated enough to do a little something extra to keep everyone interested.Making writeups like these before big games is a really good way to get people hyped up. Also increasing the number of GTV-enabled servers (looks good so far!) as well as players actually uploading some demos of their games is really important imo. The leagues should not only be for the players, but also the spectators. I gotta say i'm really dissapointed with the amount of demos this season, it's stuff like this that is bound to shrink the scene in the long run as no one besides the players will want to follow a league through screenshots. So in summary: More in-depth articles/interviews, more GTV and more demos!
Tack! Good luck in your final match.
Interview with [Wizard]thaigo
Wizards is pretty much active these days. How do you feel about your shape? Are you confident in winning EuroQ2L #12?
[Wizard]thaigo: I think we are more or less active right now, some days we got 6 players playing, some days 0. I think winning Euroq2l this season is about shape in the current gameday.
Wizards are also the only playoffs clan in div1 who made a line change coming into this season. Gerppa entered the main lineup and Offi is relatively new too. What do they give you and what they take away from your game, if you compare it to last seasons?
[Wizard]thaigo: Gerppa definately improved our dm1 at least, we have been lacking a god railkeeper before. As for other maps he is a good allaround player. Offi brings us more individual skill but maybe we don't have as good teamplay as we used to have before. That's not because gerppa or offi, but because we just havent played that much together and lack the experience.
Do you follow 2nd division? If so, do you have any prediction about the finals or are you interested in the outcome?
[Wizard]thaigo:: No i'm not intrested in 2nd division nubs :B
Are you going to upload some more demos?
[Wizard]thaigo: Is that a question? Answer is maybe
Kiitti! Good luck in your final match.
[Wizard]thaigo: THHHHHHHHX
Interview with [Wizard]Offi
First of all, this is your first final appearance, how does that make you feel? Do you feel any kind of excitement or preassure to be on a spotlight?
[Wizard]Offi: I feel pretty excited of course since it's my first final but i don't have any pressure. It's all for fun, even it is a league.
Wizards had their problems during the group stage dropping multiple maps, including two losses against your final opponent play. You and gerppa being both quite new in the lineup, how do you think your teamwork have improved from the begining of the season to this point?
[Wizard]Offi: I think we've improved pretty much from group stage. We've tried some different tactics in different maps and I think we'll do fine in the final.
What do you consider being plays biggest strenghts and the biggest weaknesses and how will you disable and capitalize them?
[Wizard]Offi: He. Just don't give them rails/quads. Simple as that.
You make it sound so easy, but I assume it won't be?
[Wizard]Offi: It won't. It wouldn't be even fun if it was easy. Clan like play> don't have bad days too often and no matter what map you pick, it might turn to a serious fight no matter how much you lead in the beginning.
Hopefully both clans have a good day for spectators sake. So, what can you promise to spectators who are dying to see what is going to happen?
[Wizard]Offi I can promise best teamplay by wizards that you've seen whole season. I've got also myself few aces in my pocket that i might show up if things are getting nasty. %D=
haha, those are big word, but hopefully we will see something great! But thank you and good luck for the finals!
[Wizard]Offi: Ty, ty
The Map Breakdown
q2dm1 The Edge
I would think this is a scary map for both teams. They both certanly have enough firepower and skill to lockdown the map and make big runs by spawnfraging. I doubt that play will pick this, but this is a possibility for Wizards, because they are lacking options. If they end up picking something else as their 2nd map, this is likely 5th map and wouldnt that be awesome? That being said I think Wizards are a slight favourite on this map, since I see provi and thaigo holding the room and providing enough support to gerppa at rail, who can rail as good as any player when his position is under his control. Mobius and slippi should cancel each other out at the lift, leaving edge to Wizards, how ever one lockdown by play and tables are turned.
Players to follow: Purri at rail and provi at room
q2dm2 Tokays Towers
Again, hardly a map for play>, but another option for Wizards. Key to win this map is to get a bit lucky and secure BA-lift during first minutes, because both have extremely good lift campers and therefore it will be hard to take over. Guy supporting the BA-lift is the key player here, if play have the lift then purri, if Wizards then thaigo. Who ever have the lift, will have to bring enough support to the quad to turn things around there. If that support fails, opponent should pick quads quite easily since it is 3on2 or 4on2 and keep frags even because of it. If support works out and you have both quad and BA-lift it means trouble for your opponent Another dangerous element here is rails and how ofter it spawns, that can play a big role if it just keeps on spawning, but you have to make sure you dont die and give it to opponent, then it can easily back fire. Ill give a slight advantage to play, mostly because of their quadtakers and also if they get the lift purris rails will be very lethal. Oh and another possible 5th map if Wizards end up picking q2dm1 as a second map.
Players to follow: BA-lift support purri or thaigo, who ever have the lift
q2dm3 The Frag Pipe
plays map number two and good map for play to take this one down. Provi have to pull quite a magic tricks at rail to steal this one for Wizards. Purri will give hard enough time for him alone, but adding mobius to the mix provi is overmatched. Reason why mobius is free to help purri is that play is way ahead at quad where pogo and optimizer getting the job done. Even this doesnt look too good for Wizards, everything is still possible. Their chance is to get a strong start and stop quadruns by play, because at some point provi will have rail under control, but every time enemy quad comes and clears it, it will really hurt Wizards. Also q2dm3 is a type of map where you can make serious comebacks or get comfortable leads in minutes, so everything is possible, but play is too strong at quad so odds are that they are the ones who make that big run.
Players to follow: provi and purri at rail and also plays quadtaker
q2dm5 The Pits /q2dm7 Slimy Place
I put these two maps together, because both are very unlikely picks, unless clans are willing to gamble. Both clans know they are strong on both maps, but they also know their opponent is strong. There is no way of knowing which one is actually stronger, until they play the map and I doubt either clan is willing to gamble when they have better options. Same reason should cancel these maps out when drawing the 5th map. But lets leave a door little open for q2dm5, but I wouldnt bet on it.
Players to follow: a player with the boosts on q2dm5 and any armor holder on q2dm7
q2dm6 Lava Tomb
This one is made for play>, another rail battle with purri and provi, how ever it is not a fair fight here. Once again play should crush Wizards at quad and then give serious support to purri, so provi really dont stand a chance. Even Wizards manages to steal quads they will only meet purri and mobius at chaingun and quad is most likely dead in few seconds. If dm3 was good for play>, I think this one is even more done deal. I cant even see how Wizards can match play on this one at any level, this one will be the most uneven map in the final. period.
Players to follow: plays quadtaker
q2dm8 Warehouse
Coin flip... and the winner is...
q2next1 Schizm
Wizards are one of the very few clans who have picked q2next1 as their home map and it have worked very well for them. Offi have been in previous games dominating force at chaingun area and occasionally help quad with some boosts. Not to forget this is easily the worst map for play, so I would think this is the first Wizards map and it should secure at least four map final. How ever this map is still relatively new and there are still plenty of room for tactical adjustments, so who knows what play can come up with and surprise us all, but not likely.
Players to follow: Offi at chaingun
Overall:
I can see at least four map final, and five mapper isnt that far away either. Play should pick and win q2dm6 and q2dm3, while Wizards win q2next1, after that it gets tricky. If I would be Wizard.. correction, if I have any say at this 4th map would be q2dm1 and then aim for q2dm2, but since I dont quite know what the plan is, they might feel like gambling with dm2 or dm5 as a fourth map. If it turns out that q2dm1 is not 4th map, play will probably go for it after they have won combined frags and Wizards will be ok with it, that if 5th map is needed. After three maps score should be 2:1 for play, then winner of next few maps will be decided by couple of frags and who ever manages to squeeze winning frags in those two will take the title!
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