Assault Cup: The 8 Teams...

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Useless

Bravo
Jun 14, 2002
5,886
63
Scotland
2009 ASSAULT CUP - CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF UT!

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Hello! I will be your friendly correspondent for this Assault Cup event, organised by the lovely XB, ably assisted by several other people whose names are harder to spell. As Cup journalist I have been asked to provide a preview of the eight official teams and their members in order to look at how this event is shaping up.

I have ignored team strength ratings but have included player ratings (as according to this post), so that the fans can judge for themselves how important a part the ratings might yet play.

I was also asked to point out players who may be key to their team's successes (or failures) in the upcoming matches. I limited myself to two key players per squad and used various criteria, but these opinions are mine and should not be taken too seriously.

Feel free to post your comments, and here goes!

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THE TEAMS

(In alpha order of cap name)

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TEAM D1SC

D1sc(c) (9) - KEY PLAYER
Uzi (7)
Basdo (24) - KEY PLAYER
Ulv (29)
Thrasher (38)
jEr (43)
Syphus (53)

#team.d1sc

POSSIBLE POSITIVES: The positives here are plain to see. Apart from having two outright fraggers this team also has at least three experienced, trustworthy, good-all-round, mid-rated players who pug very regularly and are as up-to-speed as they ever will be. If they do make mistakes it won't be owing to lack of recent gameplay experience. There's also little that Basdo can't do in AS and he may be one of the best teamplayers in the cup. Watching d1sc and Uzi tear it up will boost the morale of this squad no end, if it happens...

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES: The captain and Uzi have not been doing as much pugging as plenty of other Cup players lately, and while pugging isn't everything you could still use it as a pretty reliable litmus test as to who's up to speed and who isn't. And on top of that, d1sc will also have to get to know his team. How familiar is he with the players under his command? Who are the launchers, the fraggers, the frontmen, the backmen, who's good at comms, who likes sheep a little too much? D1sc may have to get some pretty hefty squad training in before the cup begins, or this team could fall by the wayside undeservedly quickly.

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TEAM HOI

Hoi(c) (21) - KEY PLAYER
Sphere (8) - KEY PLAYER
Ban (22)
Spoq (23)
YMD (25)
Killing_Joke (36)
ODIN (55)

#team.hoi

POSSIBLE POSITIVES:
A very middle-of-the-road sort of team, going by player ratings, but at least two of the players in here may well have been underrated. It could also be argued that if the captain makes the team then this team is the strongest, since Hoi has no glaring weaknesses on either attack or defence, knows all the launches and the tricks, and has excellent comms and good tactical awareness. He regularly captains in pugs and so is used to giving out commands and knows how each map plays out from a captain's perspective. On top of all that, Hoi has at least four talented fraggers to play with, leaving the team strong on attack with both frag and launch capability, and strong in defence with motivated teamplay, a veteran captain who's always in a good mood, and no really weak players.

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES:
It's all a sham, Hoi doesn't know what he's doing and the above paragraph just set him back €10. That's forward planning for you.

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TEAM METEOR

Meteor(c) (26)
m1cr0 (4) - KEY PLAYER
Stylefish (14) - KEY PLAYER
Mena (32)
Opium (33)
Target (46)
Flow (54)

#team.meteor

POSSIBLE POSITIVES: If player ratings are anything to go by then this team may be considered less immediately strong than most of the others, but their strengths are not to be dismissed. With the noteable fragpower of m1cr0 and Stylefish, supplemented by that of Opium, Mena and the charismatic, gibberish talking team captain himself, this crew, if properly organised, may just be able to force their way through all but the tightest of defences, especially since the maximum number of enemies they'll face is now 5 instead of 6. Comms should also be above average, what with three of the team being in the same Pro squad, which may in turn make defence a trump card for this team.

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES: But can Met make himself understood in time to marshal his troops? Will this team's fragpower be enough against the big guns in the other teams, or will the captain be forced to favour a more 'airborne' approach? And if so, who are the most trustworthy launchers? There may be some team selection headaches in Met's future... Also, as Wish said, pings may play a big part in determining the fate of Met's team, and therefore server choice is obviously critical. If all else fails, Met, shoot the barrels!

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TEAM SALVA

Salva(c) (3) - KEY PLAYER
Riv (6) - KEY PLAYER
Mido (19)
Axl (31)
Pitbull (42)
Solar (48)

#team.salva

POSSIBLE POSITIVES: Many and varied, looking at the squad. People will pinpoint this team as the one to watch, purely because, unlike any other squad, they have two top tier players in the roster. There's more to it than that, however: Mido and Axl are both absolutely excellent AS players who seem to get stronger every time they play. Both regularly do things you didn't realise they were able to do, like holding def objectives alone, or ultra-killing their way to the next one on attack. Salva has been dealt a terrific hand here, and it's not difficult to imagine this team getting off to a flying start.

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES: Comms will be a big factor. If they get the comms right (ie. if Salva keeps a grip on them), this team will virtually be able to talk their way to victory. But get them wrong and they may suffer from such problems as Riv's randomised teamkilling followed by twenty-five minutes of high-pitched giggling, or trying to glean more from Axl's laconic 'incoming', or getting Pitbull and Solar to talk at all. If Riv can climb out of his pj's and take things seriously then that may make the difference for his team. So stfu!

continued...
 
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...

TEAM SUPERMIC

Supermic(c) (12) - KEY PLAYER
DJ (5) - KEY PLAYER
Yakz0r (20)
Snee (27)
Peacemaker (39)
Html (49)
Atomas (51)

#team.supermic

POSSIBLE POSITIVES: Straight away this looks like a strong team containing more misleadingly low player ratings. Don't pick too many ripper maps if you're playing these guys or else half your def objectives will be gone before you leave your spawn. And html's been practising! They've got Snee, PM and Yak, each of whom can frag you all day long while pretending they can't; DJ who can frag you all through the night as well, just give him all the armour and all the ammo; and the captain himself, who knows more tricks and launches than anyone else in the league, mainly because he invented most of them. On paper this team would appear to have everything...

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES: OR DOES IT??!! Teamplay (or lack of it) in this bunch might be very interesting to watch, and TS would be just as fascinating to listen to. This lot might be a problem for Supermic to sort out - who goes where on defence, who can be trusted to hold positions and follow tacs, who isn't talking on TS enough and isn't it funny to listen to an argument half in Swedish and half in Hullish while you're trying to give out tactics? Supermic may be about to find out the answers to all this and less!

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TEAM TWNZ

Twnz(c) (2) - KEY PLAYER
Nrg (13) - KEY PLAYER
Free (16)
Akora (17)
Freakeh (37)
Pogo (45)

#team.twnz

POSSIBLE POSITIVES: The John Travolta of UTA, backed up by three blatantly strong players and two squaddies who are not exactly AS novices. To underestimate this team (particularly Nrg) would be to make a huge miscalculation, as they may just move in and quietly take you apart in ways you hadn't planned for. The cup only contains two recognised one-man death squads, and the captain of this team is one of them. This is a strength which only one other team enjoys, so, whether or not it seems selfish, if Twnz can configure his team to maximise use of their biggest weapon in a way which lets them concentrate power to a point, they may be unstoppable. This team will be all about attack tactics.

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES: The great disparity in ratings between the first four players and the other two may cause concern if ratings mean anything. Comms will also be important: Twnz has to encourage them as much as possible in a team which may not be too familiar with each other. This team's defense tactics will also be very interesting: with Twnz up front, who goes where behind him?

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TEAM X-BOMB

X-Bomb(c) (10) - KEY PLAYER
OD (11)
Yako (15)
Lucy (28)
JACKEL (40)
NoMercy (41)
Lenneth (52) - KEY PLAYER

#team.xb

POSSIBLE POSITIVES: Well, let's see. Two ex-Mi5 players alongside the most decorated player in UTA history as captain. That ought to do it. Ably backed up by Lucy, a player easy to underestimate whenever you can get a word in; Jackel, someone more used to languishing in the lowly doldrums of such non-clans as FDC, TNT and R-C; NoMercy, currently at third place in the Std league; and Lenneth, standing out as the player with the single most ludicrously low cup rating in the whole place. If Lenneth gets his ping right then this team's opponents may find themselves facing five fraggers when they only planned for four. A secret weapon?

Oh, and XB has cup admin rights - kerching.

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES:
In a way it's a good thing that this mob ended up with XB as captain, because he may need to be who he says he is in order to mould them into a team actually capable of lifting both the cup and their collective €70. There may be not enough familiarity and a little too much attitude in here, so the question is: will they play for each other? Comms may be a big problem - assuming the other teams will be using them properly, XB will have to ensure that his team are doing the same.

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TEAM WISH

Wish(c) (1) - KEY PLAYER
Dirz (13)
Bn (18) - KEY PLAYER
Sneez (34)
Toone (44)
Blade (50)

#team.wish

POSSIBLE POSITIVES: Given the ratings system, Wish should be thanking his lucky stars that he got this team. The captain on his own is as scarily good as good gets, so to complement his skills with those of eg. Dirz and (especially) BN is almost overkill. This is clearly one of the strongest frag teams in the cup, on average, and even the so-called 'weaker' players can still play to a high standard. And BN at (18) rating is on an average day - on a good day he jumps a few places. Similar to Twnz's team, if these guys focus on their star player and do everything they can to augment his abilities as a match-winning ploy, their opponents are going to have a very tough time indeed, on defence or attack.

POSSIBLE NEGATIVES: Unless Wish gets some serious squad training in comms may be an issue. It's hard to picture this team shouting and screaming frantically on TS, including the captain himself, though maybe this is unfair. Also, Wish's pug teams have a tendency to let him do most of the work because... well... he can. Wish has to get them to be a team, albeit a team of people working to help him out.

-=-=- -=-=- -=-=- -=-=- -=-=-

So, there you have it! The eight teams who will be competing for html and Nrg's moolah. And who doesn't like taking from those guys?

NB: Some of the irc channels mentioned here may not be set up yet, but hopefully they will be soon - if there are any changes please let me know and I'll update. Similarly, we're hoping to get a dedicated Cup forum soon, at which point all posts will be transferred to there.

And thanks to Sphere for this diagram of the Cup layout:

1stround5.jpg


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Thanks for reading and enjoy the 2009 Assault Cup!
 
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Excellent. I have to agree completely with everything mentioned. Although I i have my doubts over Salvas team! Riv is going downhill recently. I also think Pogo is a key player for Twnz team....but the other hand says NRG too.
 
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btw you should revieuw matches :D for the cup

I'm going to :P I'll make a new post about each match with previews and even pre-match comments from the captains, then update the post when the match is finished with a full breakdown, including screens and each team's match reports.

And about the Key Player thing: as I said I could only mention two each, or else I'd end up pointing everyone's strengths out. And for the players who didn't get much of a mention, this is mainly because I'm not familiar enough with how they play - don't take it personally!

Thx for the comments :thumb:
 
gj, was fun to read some teams (would be too long for me to read them all lol)

and yes, riv gets old :D
 
The non-clan remark wasn't serious, the point was actually that those were good clans so Jackel is hardly a noob :P

im glad you're saying that FDC was a good clan, but let's not go overboard with this tho. Jackel. Not a noob?!

MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!

and btw nice post ;)

oh and I know from a good source riv doesn't wear pjs.
 
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