CLOSING THOUGHTS & THANK YOUS
Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. I hope everyone enjoyed the exhilarating final we had last night. Like so many of the games it displayed so much of what competitive Warband has to offer. The second season of the ECS has been a resounding success and as per usual I would like to take a moment to say thanks to all those who made it happen. First however, as tradition dictates, I will congratulate those who placed on the podium.
First up Freelancers. Few have put as much into this game as Napoleon and his long term companions from SoE. Not many deserve this as much as him and his team. It's wonderful when you see hard work pay off and you guys played fantastically. You had so many players putting in star performances and had an incredible record. Not many teams win majors in this scene but now Freelancers have joined that elite minority. Big respect to all the Freelancers players. You guys went huge. Congratulations.
Apis Europae. Always pains me to write these things when I lose. Losing by such a small margin is never easy but Apis Europae has been here before and i'm sure will be here again. Getting into the finals for every tournament in the past 3 years is something to be proud of nonetheless. Congratulations and commiserations.
Not many had IR down as contenders, especially after they lost their opening match against Defenders of Faith. However you guys came back in a major way, putting in some fearsome performances. You fell to the eventual winners Freelancers but overcame the odds to win in the Bronze Medal match. Congratulations!
So next up time to say thanks to everyone!
Sponsors
This tournament was one blessed with an abundance of sponsors. Massive thanks to Razer for providing the first place prizes and the stream prize. The added publicity given to the scene will help us develop further and the scene is really grateful. Thanks to Gameservers for providing the second place prize and for providing German servers for the tournament. Without sponsors like this tournaments would never happen, so thanks. Similarly for MarksMods, thank you for providing the other first place prize and also for providing game servers.
Servers
I've thanked two of our server hosts above but there's a few more generous souls who deserve our gratitude. Big thanks to Wolfpack clan. Not only were you welcome tough competition to the group stage but you were also massively generous to offer servers for use, something you've done for many other tournaments. Big thanks to Sim Rai who generously donated servers for the tournament. You guys also support the WWC so we should all be grateful for the support you've shown the scene. Finally thanks to TaleWorlds for providing the Dutch servers. They were incredibly useful and that you support the competitive scene even after all this time is a huge credit to you. Also you made the game so thanks for that too
Streamers
Thanks to Captain Lust and MBTV who continues to put in huge amounts of work for the scene. The amount of streams was unbelievable. The production values and frequency of your streams continue to expand the competitive scene. Thanks for your time. Thanks to Surkan, Eman, Volcom and Chan for the games you streamed. Finally thanks to all the co-casters who gave up their free time to make the ECS what it is:
Aeronwen, Purzelblume, yami_pirate, Kelsier, OurGloriousLeader, xls, Fabio, LeRoux, peppermatt, Blacktide, Hippotitis, Varsung, Neathar, Fozzy, Mitchell
Referees
Being a referee can be a bit of thankless task. Either you get things right and nobody says anything or things go wrong. The community owes you guys a lot, as do I. Thanks so much for the time you've put in making sure everything runs smoothely. Special mentions to Dyktator who also created the graphics for the teams that placed on the podium. Thanks to:
Arthasan, Dyktator, Fabio, Kellermann, Killer, Nero, Sebek, Sombie, Surkan, Watly, Fietta
Admins
These guys did so much work for this tournament. Frankly my contribution has been at best slight so the people listed here deserve so much credit for making this ECS happen. Aeronwen you poured so much effort and time into this tournament, both in securing the sponsors and other administrative work. Thanks so much for this, myself and the scene are eternally grateful. Thanks next to Varsung, you put in a lot of work in terms of ideas and administrative work. Your willingness to get work done allowed this tournament to happen. Thanks. Big thanks next to Tardet. I hope you will be administrating more tournaments in the future. Your hard work and great attitude are a huge asset to the scene. Next up Harman, you've done so much work for this ECS. Particularly your wonderful stats which have been a pleasure to read, thank you.
Next up in a similar vein, thanks to Scar for the work you did at the start of the tournament as well as helping with ideas throughout. We've administrated many tournaments together and it's a loss to scene that your time doing it has come to an end.
Thanks next to Captain Lust once again but this time for your consultancy work. You put so much effort into securing the sponsors and even had to get a little hands-on with some of the administrative work. You do so much for this scene so thank you again.
Other Stuff
Thanks to MuivirT for his randomiser. It's been an admins best friend for a long time. Thanks to Oliveran for helping with IDs. Finally thanks to Skitrel who's hard work and generosity helped no end with sponsors.
Finally thanks to all the participants and captains who participated in the tournament. I hope you will all be back for more when the next tournament comes around.
Thanks,
Deacon