So here we are, in PlayDay4. Most of the sides I speak to seem fairly busy so this week I’ve decided to get a little bit from everyone, give more people the general consensus so to speak. From the week that has just past we have witnessed sides finally starting to catch up their out of date games, (Cough ATW/Auxilia), as well as some teams starting to already look quite strong and shoe-ins for winning the division.

Week 3 saw teams battling it out on de_dust2. Something of a formality for 7 or 8 teams I would argue. I think teams such as CROW.eu which have very little experience together as a team might start to struggle. So in true fashion, I caught a statement off the new boys of EAS-1 to see just what they think they can honestly do in this league.

Well so far has been quite disappointing results just losing to instincts which we would of hoped to of been an easy game. Mostly due to our inactivity, so we’re only able to play 1/2 times a week mostly going into games with mix strats. I think most of the teams in the league are roughly the same skill so I can’t see any really bad results but just hoping to not get relegated and go keen in the summer when our players can play more actively.

This season will be a bit of fun for us. We just play for fun and we go into the game to have a laugh.

One thing we have also now seen in this seasons’ EAS-1 is that some teams really do look out of their depth. We have constantly bandied on about the “dilution effect” and the things it will do to the sides’ organisation skills. However what do the actual teams involved think of this. I personally think that one side who will struggle this year are the aforementioned ATW, who have already notched up penalties. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to reach them yet, (Possibly something to do with the fact they apparently weren’t anywhere to be seen vs. Auxilia), I therefore got the views of another team who might be near the bottom end come seasons finish; Put Your Hands Up.

I believe we can give a good game against anyone in EAS-1, but Auxilia are a very good team and are the ones to watch out for in the league. Whenever we come up against them we just aim to get more and more rounds every time. Our next game is up against Twistedplay who obviously have experienced players, but never the less with some practice I know we can give a very close game against them, if not beat them.

Generally all the leagues, matches, IRC games we play are all in practice for LAN of course and we will perform a lot better than what people may expect. However in EAS we aim to get around mid table, there are a lot of good teams playing such as CROW.eu and Auxilia who we always have to pull as many rounds as we can against, on the other hand there are teams we know we can beat participating.

Auxilia have players with good past experience and that’s no surprise when you see how well they perform, other teams such as OneWORLD have less experience but players like Puls3 and mN handle there positions very well and can come close to Auxilia in the league, Overall I believe Auxilia will come top of the table and OneWORLD to finish closely behind.

Snipers Alley this season openly are considering themselves for a top spot. Last season most of them said that they only got their roster sorted near the end and wouldn’t have minded being in the open division for EAS as it would have given them an urge to get back up. Luckily they are still here due to the EPS main division expanding to 16 teams. Possibly to keep up with other European counterparts. They play Auxilia this week in what is possibly the biggest match of the last 6 months for both teams involved, given that they both can realistically set their heights on top3.

I spoke to players from both teams, to see what their preparation is like, as well get a view for their aims for this season of EAS-1.

Ok guys, if we’re being blunt, your both experienced sides. However you do both possess what are in essence new rosters. How do you think this has hampered your preparation?

aeT: I don’t feel our roster is “new” in a sense – we attended i37 with four members of our current roster! However, we aren’t practicing as much as we did back then as we all have real life commitments – that will probably be our only hindrance.

Jam0r: It’s hampered us a lot, even though our line-up is fairly similar since we started back in 2006, line-up changes always mean ‘gelling’ time which in an event like this, is the last thing you need. It doesn’t help when Gando heads to the rigs for 3 weeks every week or so, meaning that our line-up is constantly changing.

Perhaps with some of the newer sides in this league playing more actively now, your seen as part-timers. Do you think you can still match the commitment of the newer sides and push through? Or do you think you will be able to keep at their level with fewer playing hours per week?

aeT: We’ve already won two games comfortably without much practice – so of course we can match and even exceed their level. We’re all experienced players and we know how each other work – too well some might say. In the case of naboo, Tomki and Leighton, there was an incident involving a spoon, a bathtub and some bodily fluid that should probably never be told again. With tales like that in your past you don’t need to practice five nights a week to win games.

Jam0r: Practice makes perfect, lack of practice shows in all the games we play, simple as that. When we first started we were keen, playing every night during the week and because of that we made an impression on people with our performances. Sadly times moved on, we’re getting older and all have real life commitments to deal with (bloody girl friends) so it’s just impossible to be on more than 2/3 nights a week. Do I fancy our chances against a team of younger players who play every night? Not really. We’re here to have fun, we like winning and will always play to win, and sadly our time frame means we’ll never be as good as we used to be.

Ok, one key thing to point out is that you are a newly formed side, do you feel with Gando playing again and perhaps a solid five, you will be challenging for top honours? Don’t you see your circumstances as a real dichotomy; in that you do not want to play seriously but soon you invariably will be in EPS if you succeed here?

Jam0r: If we had the same 5 or 6 playing as often as they could and by that I mean 2 to 3 hours a night 4/5 days a week then I don’t see why we couldn’t. It is a bit of an odd situation to be in, it’s a game and we play for fun, we never forget that and we’ve always put personal life before gaming (as it was when we first started, we just had no personal life back then). So how that will work with EPS, time will only tell. If it was left up to me, we’d add all the old school players to our roster and people would just come on when they could to play games here and there. That then brings round the teamwork issue and not having a set 5/6 man line-up, swings and roundabouts one could say.

One of the games which has invariably yet to happen is the tumultuous clash between you two guys. Which we are naturally here to discuss. Do you view the game as a fun one, or a tight necked fight which must be won at all costs>?

aeT: I don’t feel the game is must win as we should be picking up enough points from other teams to secure a top 3 finish. That said, we will be taking the game seriously and hoping to come out with a victory.

Jam0r: In all honestly, the desire to win will always be there but if we did happen to lose, we’d probably just shrug it off and go for an hours’ session on Bad Company 2 or Left 4 Dead. We’re gamers, we enjoy playing every game. (I hope we do win though)

How have Snipers-Alley taken this season so far. Is it a case of surviving first, win later or is there a real focus within the camp?

aeT: We’re all quite focused and we’re utilising the small amount of practice time we have to ensure that we perform as well as we possibly can. After all, we are representing a respected name in Snipers Alley, and we need to do the name justice.

Lastly, if you guys had to pick up on, or think about one task which lies ahead in the coming 4-5 weeks, what would it be? Anything from roster / scheduling issues, to hard matches.

aeT: I think our main issue is maintaining confidence. If we trust ourselves to perform as well as we know we can individually, maintaining that confidence shouldn’t be a problem. We don’t struggle with motivation at all, and we know that on our day we can beat anyone in this league. I may have said we would struggle with communication and that would be a roadblock, but having brought Liam ‘naboo’ Kelly back into the roster those issues have all but disappeared.

Actually, scrap all that. We need to teach Fasty how to clutch.

Jam0r: Both roster and scheduling issues… Req has asked to leave so we’re after a replacement for him and Death’s cricket season has started meaning he’s not around Monday nights! Good combination for me to sort out right there.

With the table still not showing any signs of changing rapidly. Will the teams be resigned to their positions?

Lastly I thought it would be good to round this interview off with one of the better sides in the league. OneWORLD. So far they have looked quite good and I personally wrote them off for coming top3. However most of the other teams think that what they might lack in experience and aim, they make up for in teamwork and strats. So exactly who are OneWORLD? And what do they bring to the table that other teams don’t? I caught up with SLeven from OneWORLD to find out exactly what.

Ok so we’re in week3 of EAS-1, about to go into week4. You are playing fairly good CSS with no huge wins, but everyone seems to think your going to be winning or finishing near the top? Why do you think this is, and do you think other sides possess this quality??

I think that people see OneWORLD finishing near the top because we have proved in the EAS that we are capable of going far, beating teams such as iNfluxum, CROW.eu, and TP; thus securing a first place finish in EAS.  Yeah of course, there are other teams like us who have the ability to finish near the top. I think SA and Auxilia should do fairly well as they are already off to a good start.

Ok so now we have established your playing quite good, what next? Do you think in 6-12months time OneWORLD will be an EPS team? Perhaps if not then do you think you’ll remain in EAS-1 confidently?

I am pretty confident we will secure a spot in EPS. Finishing first or second in the division this year, and then hopefully onto better things.

Previously in my EAS-1 articles of the last season, often teams commented on the invincibility almost of GLG, given that they were shades ahead of most of the other teams. Do you think you perhaps are now that team?

I don’t think we are GLG at this current moment: p Also we have some tight competition from he likes of Infernal, Auxilia and Snipers Alley, so things aren’t simple.

Is there only OneWORLD…? Well as the X-Files always say. The truth IS out there!

Changing views slightly now. Which sides do you think, come week5 or 6, will be either resigned to their fate of relegation, or guaranteed a top3 spot, and possible promotion (Yourselves excluded naturally!)?

I think that ATW and unfortunately auRic will face relegation. ATW came into 1st division with a new roster and that will prove hard to obtain results on other teams and auRic just aren’t getting the results they need. I think that infernal snipers and Auxilia will be the ones battling it out.

Ok lets wrap this up now, almost in a carbon copy of all my interviews of recent, I’ve asked my interviewees to give me a comment about a moment that will occur in the next few weeks. It can be a roster change/particular match or even a decision / particular map. What’s your “thing” to watch out for in the coming weeks?

Hmmm I think our game against iNfluxum will be something to watch out for, we have beaten them before but I have a feeling it will be a hard game for us.

Another one down, and yet another one to plan; with I-series articles now coming to fruit, given that the LAN is fast approaching and won’t be postponed (Unlike things online). In my next two articles on EAS-1 I’ll be looking more in-depth into actual matches, looking at pivotal rounds that might have swung the contest. With OneWORLD playing iNfluxum and Infernal Gamers (Who I spoke to last week), playing the new-ish side or CROW.eu, it certainly is going to be an interesting week to come.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 21:24 and is filed under Community, ESL, Games, Leagues & Ladders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.