The present write-up is an attempt at analyzing the different teams participating in the long awaited 3v3 tournament Battle of Africa. I will try to dissect the individual and collective strengths of each signed up team. This analysis will use the results of “recent” (relatively) 1v1 and team relevant tournaments as well as rated team games on Voobly.
“Major” tournaments (very relevant for BoA):
Summary:
(1) Favorites (already qualified)
(2) Challengers (need to qualify)
(3) Other challengers (Did not make the cut)
Favorites (Already qualified)
Seed 1: Aftermath
The participation of the Aftermath team to a tournament for the first time might be one of the biggest headlines of Battle of Africa. Founded in October 2017 with long-time friends and rivals Liereyy, Hearttt and MbL, the already strong team got even stronger in January with the explosion of Nervo and the addition of Nicov.
Team roster:
Player (team captain is underlined) – Highest 1v1 Elo (All times best ranking) – Highest Team Game Elo – Notable tournament results
Team status: aM’ is a team made of four incredibly talented 1v1 players with a history of playing rated team games together. They are participating in a major team tournament in 3v3 settings for the first time but enjoyed success in the weekend “Clash of the Hippo” tournaments, where Liereyy, MbL and Hearttt won twice, taking prestige wins against TyRanT and SY. They are all extremely strong players on Arabia, with Nicov bringing more depth to their game with his vast experience and extraordinary team game level (and much needed calm and poise in their turbulent voice chat). They have a strong knowledge of the expansions civilizations and great confidence. However, participating for the first time to such a big event with this line-up, it will be interesting to see how aM’ deals with the pressure (and their potential status as favorites) during the tournament.
Expected line-up: aM’s captain Liereyy is probably the second-best player in the world now and should be an essential inclusion to any team fielded by aM’. Nicov also appears to be inevitable, leaving Hearttt and MbL to play as the third. MbL is currently evolving at a very strong individual level, while Hearttt may be more consistent. Having the luxury of being able to choose between either of these exceptional players as the third member of the line-up highlights how strong aM’ looks.
Seed 2: SY
The recent history of SY has been turbulent. Lyx parted ways with his old team to join Tim’s newly founded “Frantic” clan before going back to SY on the eve of their own Nations Cup. Heavy favorites, they were upset by Brazil A and finished 5th, before all going out in the first round of King of the Desert. In 2018, star player Yo broke 2k6 on the ladder, achieving the highest Elo of all times while Vivi joined back SY and almost reached 2k6 himself.
Team roster:
Team status: SY members incredible achievements on the 1v1 ladders are somehow tarnished by their recent results in major tournaments. Far from their usual standards, they finished outside the top 4 of the Nations Cup and Yo, Vivi and Lyx were all upset by opponents seeded lower than them in the first round of King of the Desert. After this series of setbacks however, the team has seemed to find their old shape and piled up wins, being only beaten by the in-form aM’ during the 3v3 “Let your teammate die” event. They also performed strongly, both individually and as a team, during the various show matches Fengxin has organized since early January. The team as a whole is incredibly strong if they find their form, which they seem to have. Having finally mastered the new civilizations, they should be a force to be reckoned with.
Expected line-up: Yo, Vivi and Lyx are the best three players of the SY team. Having played together during the show matches, it would be very unlikely to see either Fengxin play many matches. However, he remains the captain of team SY and a formidable player – both on the individual and team game scene. It is likely that he will content himself with being the mastermind behind SY’s strategy and the role of leader of the powerful clan.
Seed 3: Suomi
Only defeated by Brazil during the last Nations Cup, the Finnish team is teaming up for the second consecutive time. Mainly composed of young players practicing together daily and often praised for its teamwork, Finland is expected to become Winland once again.
Team roster:
Team status: Finland is a team consistently strong on all maps, even though some teams seem to outperform them on Arabia (notably the Brazilians, twice during Nations Cup). Originally reluctant to switch to Wololo Kingdoms, the Finns have finally adopted and mastered the expansions civilizations. Finland is renown for their excellent teamwork and strategies, so I expect them to get good drafts and come up with excellent preparation for all maps.
Expected line-up: Their regular 3v3 line-up will most likely leave Rubenstock benched most of the time, but make no mistake there: despite his 1v1 rating, he is capable of the best, notably eliminating Edie from Masters of Arena 5.
Seed 4: Brazil
Placing two teams in the top 4, Brazil was the most successful country of the latest Nations Cup. RiuT and F1Re originally planned to team up with fellow clan members BacT and slam to reform the mighty TyRanT Warlords while dogao and Miguel were considering joining forces with Nicov again. However, with TaToH joining TyRanT and Nicov going to aM’, they decided to team together.
Team roster:
Team status: While aM’ shines especially on the 1v1 scene, the Brazilian players are famous for their incredibly good team game skill. Miguel and dogao, especially, are often hailed as two of the very best team game players of all times. During the Nations Cup, eventual champion Brazil B was undefeated on Arabia the whole tournament, which bodes well for them for BoA which will be played on similar open maps. While there is no doubt each of these four players evolve at the very best level on both 1v1 and team competitions, the Brazilians might lack the experience of the new civilizations teams such as aM’ and TyRanT possess. However, make no mistake, they will be a very serious contender for the title.
Expected line-up: The Brazilian roster is incredibly homogeneous with no clear “star” among the team. During Nations Cup, RiuT was the MVP for the Brazil A team while dogao and Miguel were the strongest players in Brazil B – and instrumental to the final win – with dogao being voted MVP of the tournament by viewers on AoCZone. Since RiuT seems to have found his top shape in 1v1, I expect that their strongest 3v3 line-up would be dogao, RiuT and Miguel. However, F1Re is a fantastic player that could step in smoothly, would any of the others be having a bad day.
Seed 5: TyRanT
Arguably the strongest and most decorated clan ever of the history of the game, the TyRanT line-up is “only” seeded 4th of the current sign-ups, a testament to the incredible field of the tournament. Featuring TaToH, its first addition to the team in more than three years and the revenant JorDan_23 for his first team game tournament, TyRanT will be a team to be reckoned with.
Team roster:
Team status: The TyRanT team is built around TheViper, incontestably the best player in the world at the moment. With his unrivalled knowledge of the game – especially the expansions civilizations – I expect TyRanT to be able to out draft all their opponents. The second major asset of the team is their vast experience: more than any other team, I expect them to step up their game in a tournament setting (in comparison to regular rated games). The big question mark rests on the shape of DauT and JorDan. Both have been struggling with form recently, with DauT having some lackluster results in recent tournaments after a strong start of 2017 and JorDan not reaching his peak level again after returning from retirement.
Expected line-up: It’s a no-brainer, Viper will not be benched. All combinations of two players among the remaining three have their advantages and drawbacks with no clear “weakest” or "strongest" link in the group. TaToH may be the current second best in their team, but DauT and JorDan have more experience playing team tournaments with Viper. Nevertheless, I expect TheViper and TaToH to be playing most games, with DauT and JorDan playing as the third depending on their shape of the day.
Seed 6: NaBs
The ever popular NaBs team added the prestigious ZeroEmpires to their roster sometime during fall 2017 but half of their players have grown inactive. With Lavie_Head herself explicitly stating that NaBs would probably not be a part of BoA, the last minute registration of the team was a happy surprise for us all!
Team roster:
Expected line-up: Since coming back on March 1st, Pike has played around 20-30 games on his main account, testament of his will to get back in shape for the tournament. Always a force to be reckoned with, he was instrumental to Finland’s runner-up finish in Nations Cup 2017 but could potentially be benched for the trio of slam, mentalist and Spaden, less “rusty”. Slam is arguably the strongest player in their roster, but has less experience playing with them (except for mentalist, both having played together in team Canada). Any combination of three players among these four will be a force to be reckoned with.
Challengers (Need to qualify)
Seed 7: Vietnam Legend
With TyRanT Warlords not reforming for the event, TyRanT player BacT will join forces with his Vietnamese countrymen once again. This is a seasoned team with years of playing together and having good results on tournaments.
Team roster:
Team status: The main strength of the Vietnamese team is their teamwork and their experience playing together. However, their lack of preparation and/or knowledge of the expansions civilizations could hurt them in matches against other top teams. They are the heavy favorites of the qualifications phase and I don't see any other team challenging them to make the top 8.
Expected line-up: On paper, the line-up of Vietnam should be BacT, saymyname and ACCM. However, their recent results are such that none of them seem to be consistently playing better than the others. CooL was arguably the MVP of team Vietnam during Nations Cup and ACCM has been the most performant player of their team recently. However, I don’t expect BacT to be benched; I expect BacT and ACCM to play most of the games with CooL and saymyname alternating as the third player.
Seed 8: ChinaA
To my understanding, there has been a long-standing feud between Tim and Paladin (Fengxin) for years which had led to Tim, despite being one of the best Chinese players, has consistently been playing major tournaments with other teams than SY. Signing up for the tournament as “China A” is a teasing move from Tim, but his team definitely looks strong.
Team roster:
Team status: As many Chinese players mostly play on Voobly China and stream on Chinese platforms, it is not always easy to assess the amount of training they put into the game. Nevertheless, Tim, CL and StrayDog are undoubtedly three very strong 1v1 players. They seem to be performing very well lately, with Tim improving on his highest Elo ever and closing on the top 10, CL getting in the last 4 of Masters of Arena 5 and StrayDog taking games out of players such as JorDan_23 and MbL. Although they have not participated as a team in recent events, they are all three very solid team game players: CL was Frantic’s MVP during Nations Cup, Tim was their Mongols player and performed consistently throughout the tournament and StrayDog was arguably the best player in EMA’s line-up, a team who was credited with spectacular team play (notably winning on Arabia against Finland). However, I have a hunch that the civilizations draft – which caused trouble to most Frantic players during KotD – and scheduling might reveal to be China A’s main weaknesses for the event to come. This team has potential, but I can see them competing with Vietnam for the 5th place at best. ChinaA has a tricky first round against Dreamers and coud then face either USA A or InLove to make the top 8; they are favorites but will need to play crisp games to qualify.
Expected line-up: No choice there! Unless China A adds a fourth player to their roster, they will all have to be present for all matches.
Seed 9: USA A
Alas not signing up with star player Josepreto, Nomad player Influenza joins forces with his former team mates of the American Nations Cup team to field a strong 2k+ contender for the qualifiers of the tournament.
Team roster:
Seed 10: CZ
The Czech players have a history of playing together and doing well in tournaments. Signing up at the last minute, they could represent a threat to any team for the qualification round if they did – and could be a contender for the top 8.
Team roster:
Expected line-up: Janik is the strongest player on the team, but hasn’t been very active for a while. If he played, he would make a strong three-player team with Skull and Error. If he does not play, Skull, Error and Mango will still make up a strong team that could take games out of anyone.
Seed 8: North ‘Murcans
A collection of American, Canadian and Irish players joins forces to create one of the fan-favorite teams of the tournament.
Team roster:
Expected line-up: I expect the strongest line-up for North ‘Murcans to be Mattheus and Timotheus always playing, either joined by Hera or Spring. Hera has been performing very well lately and seems, overall, to be a better team game player than Spring but the later has more experience playing with the Irish brothers.
Seed 12: InLove
Infamous Chile B team from Nations Cup posts a last-minute sign-up to the tournament with a roster of four players. While they might make some double castle + conqs strategy, it’s unlikely they will rival the very top teams for the final victory.
Team roster:
Expected line-up: Their strongest line-up, according to numbers, would be Mounstrosity (qlrook), Wisepii and Whitecourt, with Noisick not playing since January.
Seed 13: Dreamers zZ
French superstar and “magico jugador” Edie joins forces with two of his Argentinean friends and the rapidly improving Spanish player LaaaN to create an entertaining team with a strong potential.
Team roster:
Expected line-up: Multiple options are open here. While Edie has the highest 1v1 rating of the team, he also does not speak Spanish, which could be a hindrance while the other three are native speakers. Alternatively, either Juan or Fedex could be benched if they decide they are “out of shape”; LaaaN, on the other hand, seems to be a necessary inclusion to the team.
Seed 14: Tsu much nC
nC players LB10, Skittle and Andorin join forces with the famous and most excellent Nili.
Team roster:
I don’t expect them to make the top 8.
Expected line-up: While LB10 and Nili are arguably the strongest players in the team, Andorin and Skittle probably have the most experience playing together. Overall it’s a very homogeneous team, where every combination of three players should be around the same average skill level.
Challengers (Did not make the cut)
Philipphjsfans
Second nC team of the tournament.
Team roster:
Monster Crack
Who said high level tournaments should be reserved to top players anyway?
Team roster:
“Major” tournaments (very relevant for BoA):
- King of the Desert (KotD): 1v1 tournament with the strongest field of 2017, similar settings as BoA
- Nations Cup 2017 (NC17): Biggest event of 2017, team tournament, quite different settings (all sorts of maps, AOC only)
- Clan Masters: The Final Showdown (CM): Biggest team tournament of 2016, different settings
- Return of the Kings 2v2 (RotK): Elite 8-team field with all expansions civilizations but all sorts of maps
- Masters of Arabia 2v2 (MoA): Big team tournament on open maps with a strong field, less recent than other events and played on classic AOC
Summary:
(1) Favorites (already qualified)
(2) Challengers (need to qualify)
(3) Other challengers (Did not make the cut)
Favorites (Already qualified)
Seed 1: Aftermath
The participation of the Aftermath team to a tournament for the first time might be one of the biggest headlines of Battle of Africa. Founded in October 2017 with long-time friends and rivals Liereyy, Hearttt and MbL, the already strong team got even stronger in January with the explosion of Nervo and the addition of Nicov.
Team roster:
Player (team captain is underlined) – Highest 1v1 Elo (All times best ranking) – Highest Team Game Elo – Notable tournament results
- Liereyy – 2593 (#4) – 2265 – KotD 2nd, NC17 12th, CM top 12
- MbL – 2566 (#7) – 2169 – CM top 12 [RotK 3rd, MoA 1st]
- Nicov – 2538 (#9) – 2257 – NC17 8th, CM 8th [RotK 2nd, MoA 2nd]
- Hearttt – 2506 (#14) – 2254 – KotD 3rd
Team status: aM’ is a team made of four incredibly talented 1v1 players with a history of playing rated team games together. They are participating in a major team tournament in 3v3 settings for the first time but enjoyed success in the weekend “Clash of the Hippo” tournaments, where Liereyy, MbL and Hearttt won twice, taking prestige wins against TyRanT and SY. They are all extremely strong players on Arabia, with Nicov bringing more depth to their game with his vast experience and extraordinary team game level (and much needed calm and poise in their turbulent voice chat). They have a strong knowledge of the expansions civilizations and great confidence. However, participating for the first time to such a big event with this line-up, it will be interesting to see how aM’ deals with the pressure (and their potential status as favorites) during the tournament.
Expected line-up: aM’s captain Liereyy is probably the second-best player in the world now and should be an essential inclusion to any team fielded by aM’. Nicov also appears to be inevitable, leaving Hearttt and MbL to play as the third. MbL is currently evolving at a very strong individual level, while Hearttt may be more consistent. Having the luxury of being able to choose between either of these exceptional players as the third member of the line-up highlights how strong aM’ looks.
Seed 2: SY
The recent history of SY has been turbulent. Lyx parted ways with his old team to join Tim’s newly founded “Frantic” clan before going back to SY on the eve of their own Nations Cup. Heavy favorites, they were upset by Brazil A and finished 5th, before all going out in the first round of King of the Desert. In 2018, star player Yo broke 2k6 on the ladder, achieving the highest Elo of all times while Vivi joined back SY and almost reached 2k6 himself.
Team roster:
- Yo – 2630 (#1) – 2286 – NC17 5th, CM 1st
- Vivi – 2582 (#5) – 2138 – NC17 3rd, CM 4th [MoA 5th]
- Lyx – 2458 (#20) – 2232 – NC17 5th, CM 1st
- Fengxin – 2300 (#59) – 2224 – NC17 5th, CM 1st
Team status: SY members incredible achievements on the 1v1 ladders are somehow tarnished by their recent results in major tournaments. Far from their usual standards, they finished outside the top 4 of the Nations Cup and Yo, Vivi and Lyx were all upset by opponents seeded lower than them in the first round of King of the Desert. After this series of setbacks however, the team has seemed to find their old shape and piled up wins, being only beaten by the in-form aM’ during the 3v3 “Let your teammate die” event. They also performed strongly, both individually and as a team, during the various show matches Fengxin has organized since early January. The team as a whole is incredibly strong if they find their form, which they seem to have. Having finally mastered the new civilizations, they should be a force to be reckoned with.
Expected line-up: Yo, Vivi and Lyx are the best three players of the SY team. Having played together during the show matches, it would be very unlikely to see either Fengxin play many matches. However, he remains the captain of team SY and a formidable player – both on the individual and team game scene. It is likely that he will content himself with being the mastermind behind SY’s strategy and the role of leader of the powerful clan.
Seed 3: Suomi
Only defeated by Brazil during the last Nations Cup, the Finnish team is teaming up for the second consecutive time. Mainly composed of young players practicing together daily and often praised for its teamwork, Finland is expected to become Winland once again.
Team roster:
- Villese – 2568 (#6) – 2173 – NC17 2nd
- _TheMax_ – 2416 (#24) – 2168 – KotD 3rd, NC17 2nd, CM 7th [MoA 3rd]
- Zuppi – 2311 (#54) – 2122 – NC17 2nd, CM 5th [MoA 3rd]
- Rubenstock – 2099 (#178) – 2157 – NC17 2nd
Team status: Finland is a team consistently strong on all maps, even though some teams seem to outperform them on Arabia (notably the Brazilians, twice during Nations Cup). Originally reluctant to switch to Wololo Kingdoms, the Finns have finally adopted and mastered the expansions civilizations. Finland is renown for their excellent teamwork and strategies, so I expect them to get good drafts and come up with excellent preparation for all maps.
Expected line-up: Their regular 3v3 line-up will most likely leave Rubenstock benched most of the time, but make no mistake there: despite his 1v1 rating, he is capable of the best, notably eliminating Edie from Masters of Arena 5.
Seed 4: Brazil
Placing two teams in the top 4, Brazil was the most successful country of the latest Nations Cup. RiuT and F1Re originally planned to team up with fellow clan members BacT and slam to reform the mighty TyRanT Warlords while dogao and Miguel were considering joining forces with Nicov again. However, with TaToH joining TyRanT and Nicov going to aM’, they decided to team together.
Team roster:
- RiuT – 2475 (#17) – 2230 – NC17 4th, CM 2nd [MoA 7th]
- F1Re – 2474 (#18) – 2259 – NC17 4th, CM 2nd [MoA 4th]
- dogao – 2367 (#35) – 2246 – NC17 1st, CM 1st [MoA 4th]
- Miguel – 2342 (#40) – 2257 – NC17 1st, CM 8th [MoA 2nd]
Team status: While aM’ shines especially on the 1v1 scene, the Brazilian players are famous for their incredibly good team game skill. Miguel and dogao, especially, are often hailed as two of the very best team game players of all times. During the Nations Cup, eventual champion Brazil B was undefeated on Arabia the whole tournament, which bodes well for them for BoA which will be played on similar open maps. While there is no doubt each of these four players evolve at the very best level on both 1v1 and team competitions, the Brazilians might lack the experience of the new civilizations teams such as aM’ and TyRanT possess. However, make no mistake, they will be a very serious contender for the title.
Expected line-up: The Brazilian roster is incredibly homogeneous with no clear “star” among the team. During Nations Cup, RiuT was the MVP for the Brazil A team while dogao and Miguel were the strongest players in Brazil B – and instrumental to the final win – with dogao being voted MVP of the tournament by viewers on AoCZone. Since RiuT seems to have found his top shape in 1v1, I expect that their strongest 3v3 line-up would be dogao, RiuT and Miguel. However, F1Re is a fantastic player that could step in smoothly, would any of the others be having a bad day.
Seed 5: TyRanT
Arguably the strongest and most decorated clan ever of the history of the game, the TyRanT line-up is “only” seeded 4th of the current sign-ups, a testament to the incredible field of the tournament. Featuring TaToH, its first addition to the team in more than three years and the revenant JorDan_23 for his first team game tournament, TyRanT will be a team to be reckoned with.
Team roster:
- DauT – 2615 (#2) – 2150 – KotD top 8, CM 2nd [RotK 1st, MoA 7th]
- TheViper – 2607 (#3) – 2182 – KotD 1st, CM 2nd [RotK 1st, MoA 1st]
- JorDan_23 – 2546 (#8) – 1957
- TaToH – 2477 (#16) – 2123 – CM 6th [RotK 2nd, MoA 9th]
Team status: The TyRanT team is built around TheViper, incontestably the best player in the world at the moment. With his unrivalled knowledge of the game – especially the expansions civilizations – I expect TyRanT to be able to out draft all their opponents. The second major asset of the team is their vast experience: more than any other team, I expect them to step up their game in a tournament setting (in comparison to regular rated games). The big question mark rests on the shape of DauT and JorDan. Both have been struggling with form recently, with DauT having some lackluster results in recent tournaments after a strong start of 2017 and JorDan not reaching his peak level again after returning from retirement.
Expected line-up: It’s a no-brainer, Viper will not be benched. All combinations of two players among the remaining three have their advantages and drawbacks with no clear “weakest” or "strongest" link in the group. TaToH may be the current second best in their team, but DauT and JorDan have more experience playing team tournaments with Viper. Nevertheless, I expect TheViper and TaToH to be playing most games, with DauT and JorDan playing as the third depending on their shape of the day.
Seed 6: NaBs
The ever popular NaBs team added the prestigious ZeroEmpires to their roster sometime during fall 2017 but half of their players have grown inactive. With Lavie_Head herself explicitly stating that NaBs would probably not be a part of BoA, the last minute registration of the team was a happy surprise for us all!
Team roster:
- slam – 2512 (#13) – 2116 – KotD top 8, NC17 7th, CM 2nd [RotK 3rd, MoA 5th]
- mentalist – 2307 (#55) – 2216 – NC17 7th, CM 5th [MoA 9th]
- NorthernPike – 2260 (#72) – 2159 – NC17 2nd, CM 5th
- Spaden – 2216 (#92) – 2106 – NC17 13th, CM 5th
Expected line-up: Since coming back on March 1st, Pike has played around 20-30 games on his main account, testament of his will to get back in shape for the tournament. Always a force to be reckoned with, he was instrumental to Finland’s runner-up finish in Nations Cup 2017 but could potentially be benched for the trio of slam, mentalist and Spaden, less “rusty”. Slam is arguably the strongest player in their roster, but has less experience playing with them (except for mentalist, both having played together in team Canada). Any combination of three players among these four will be a force to be reckoned with.
Challengers (Need to qualify)
Seed 7: Vietnam Legend
With TyRanT Warlords not reforming for the event, TyRanT player BacT will join forces with his Vietnamese countrymen once again. This is a seasoned team with years of playing together and having good results on tournaments.
Team roster:
- BacT – 2521 (#10) – 2301 – NC17 6th, CM 3rd [RotK 4th, MoA 5th]
- saymyname – 2427 (#22) – 2068 – NC17 6th, CM 3rd
- ACCM – 2397 (#29) – 2113 – KotD top 8, NC17 6th, CM 3rd [RotK 4th, MoA 7th]
- CooL – 2206 (#98) – 2115 – NC17 6th, CM 3rd [MoA 7th]
Team status: The main strength of the Vietnamese team is their teamwork and their experience playing together. However, their lack of preparation and/or knowledge of the expansions civilizations could hurt them in matches against other top teams. They are the heavy favorites of the qualifications phase and I don't see any other team challenging them to make the top 8.
Expected line-up: On paper, the line-up of Vietnam should be BacT, saymyname and ACCM. However, their recent results are such that none of them seem to be consistently playing better than the others. CooL was arguably the MVP of team Vietnam during Nations Cup and ACCM has been the most performant player of their team recently. However, I don’t expect BacT to be benched; I expect BacT and ACCM to play most of the games with CooL and saymyname alternating as the third player.
Seed 8: ChinaA
To my understanding, there has been a long-standing feud between Tim and Paladin (Fengxin) for years which had led to Tim, despite being one of the best Chinese players, has consistently been playing major tournaments with other teams than SY. Signing up for the tournament as “China A” is a teasing move from Tim, but his team definitely looks strong.
Team roster:
- Tim – 2514 (#12) – 2214 – NC17 3rd, CM 4th [MoA 5th]
- CL – 2410 (#26) – 2109 – NC17 3rd, CM 4th
- StrayDog – 2399 (#29) – 2014 – NC17 10th
Team status: As many Chinese players mostly play on Voobly China and stream on Chinese platforms, it is not always easy to assess the amount of training they put into the game. Nevertheless, Tim, CL and StrayDog are undoubtedly three very strong 1v1 players. They seem to be performing very well lately, with Tim improving on his highest Elo ever and closing on the top 10, CL getting in the last 4 of Masters of Arena 5 and StrayDog taking games out of players such as JorDan_23 and MbL. Although they have not participated as a team in recent events, they are all three very solid team game players: CL was Frantic’s MVP during Nations Cup, Tim was their Mongols player and performed consistently throughout the tournament and StrayDog was arguably the best player in EMA’s line-up, a team who was credited with spectacular team play (notably winning on Arabia against Finland). However, I have a hunch that the civilizations draft – which caused trouble to most Frantic players during KotD – and scheduling might reveal to be China A’s main weaknesses for the event to come. This team has potential, but I can see them competing with Vietnam for the 5th place at best. ChinaA has a tricky first round against Dreamers and coud then face either USA A or InLove to make the top 8; they are favorites but will need to play crisp games to qualify.
Expected line-up: No choice there! Unless China A adds a fourth player to their roster, they will all have to be present for all matches.
Seed 9: USA A
Alas not signing up with star player Josepreto, Nomad player Influenza joins forces with his former team mates of the American Nations Cup team to field a strong 2k+ contender for the qualifiers of the tournament.
Team roster:
- Daniel – 2147 (#137) – 1982
- Juba – 2146 (#138) – 1980
- Influenza – 2024 – 2039 – CM top 12
Seed 10: CZ
The Czech players have a history of playing together and doing well in tournaments. Signing up at the last minute, they could represent a threat to any team for the qualification round if they did – and could be a contender for the top 8.
Team roster:
- Janik – 2340 (#41) – 2168 – NC17 9th, CM 6th
- Skull – 2243 (#81) – 2022 – NC17 9th, CM 6th
- Error – 2030 – 2155 – NC17 9th, CM 6th [MoA 9th]
- Mango – 1928 – 2010 – NC17 9th, CM 6th
Expected line-up: Janik is the strongest player on the team, but hasn’t been very active for a while. If he played, he would make a strong three-player team with Skull and Error. If he does not play, Skull, Error and Mango will still make up a strong team that could take games out of anyone.
Seed 8: North ‘Murcans
A collection of American, Canadian and Irish players joins forces to create one of the fan-favorite teams of the tournament.
Team roster:
- Hera – 2447 (#21) – 2059 – NC17 7th, CM 7th
- Melkor – 2379 (#35) – 2083 – CM top 12 [MoA 9th]
- Spring – 2344 (#39) – 1788
- Timotheus – 2209 (#97) – 2035 – [MoA 9th]
Expected line-up: I expect the strongest line-up for North ‘Murcans to be Mattheus and Timotheus always playing, either joined by Hera or Spring. Hera has been performing very well lately and seems, overall, to be a better team game player than Spring but the later has more experience playing with the Irish brothers.
Seed 12: InLove
Infamous Chile B team from Nations Cup posts a last-minute sign-up to the tournament with a roster of four players. While they might make some double castle + conqs strategy, it’s unlikely they will rival the very top teams for the final victory.
Team roster:
- Mounstrosity – 2179 (#110) – 1970
- Whitecourt – 1988 – 2000
- Wisepii – 1952 – 2001
- Noisick – - - - - – 1944
Expected line-up: Their strongest line-up, according to numbers, would be Mounstrosity (qlrook), Wisepii and Whitecourt, with Noisick not playing since January.
Seed 13: Dreamers zZ
French superstar and “magico jugador” Edie joins forces with two of his Argentinean friends and the rapidly improving Spanish player LaaaN to create an entertaining team with a strong potential.
Team roster:
- Edie – 2516 (#11) – 2054 – NC17 13th
- LaaaN – 2400 (#28) – 2037
- JuanNNN – 2331 (#44) – 2152 – NC17 8th, CM 8th
- Fedex – 2240 (#83) – 2116 – NC17 8th
Expected line-up: Multiple options are open here. While Edie has the highest 1v1 rating of the team, he also does not speak Spanish, which could be a hindrance while the other three are native speakers. Alternatively, either Juan or Fedex could be benched if they decide they are “out of shape”; LaaaN, on the other hand, seems to be a necessary inclusion to the team.
Seed 14: Tsu much nC
nC players LB10, Skittle and Andorin join forces with the famous and most excellent Nili.
Team roster:
- Nili – 2176 (#113) – 1972 – CM 8th
- LB10 – 2150 (#132) – 1992 – NC17 12th [MoA 9th]
- Skittle – 2073 – 1984 – [MoA 9th]
- Andorin – 2053 – 1961
I don’t expect them to make the top 8.
Expected line-up: While LB10 and Nili are arguably the strongest players in the team, Andorin and Skittle probably have the most experience playing together. Overall it’s a very homogeneous team, where every combination of three players should be around the same average skill level.
Challengers (Did not make the cut)
Philipphjsfans
Second nC team of the tournament.
Team roster:
- Snyper1 – 2009 – 1902 – [MoA 9th]
- Arma – 2009 – 1919
- PhilippHJS – 1948 – 1935
Monster Crack
Who said high level tournaments should be reserved to top players anyway?
Team roster:
- FAOA – 1561 – 1512
- Juandogerp – 1524 – 1505
- Alonso_11 – 1461 – 1491
- PaleologoV – 1222 – - - - -
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