Match Preview: Belgium & Netherlands vs. Germany
Sunday will see the last three of the four quarter final matches played, and this one could well be the most high-profile match of the bunch. BeNe faces Germany in a match that, if nothing else, will surely provide us with top-class players, top-class plays and hopefully a thrilling spectacle that won’t be resolved until the very last rounds of the match.
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Team Information
BeNe is sure to bring their best to the match, and that means a fearsome lineup of rangers spearheaded by LeRoux, who is likely going to lead the team alongside Ceasar. In their match against France, BeNe cavalry also stood out positively. Ceasar scored several interesting couched lance kills on the obviously shocked French infantrymen, and Tomy also stood out favorably, and it is probably thanks to their great work as cavalry that BeNe managed to tie the game. BeNe’s infantry seems like a bit of a question mark, however: Doener and Kellermann couldn’t accomplish much against the Frenchmen on the closed map and required the aid of their rangers and cavalry to defeat them. Germany is also known as a tough infantry faction, so this might be an issue on Verloren, though archers are notoriously difficult to deal with there. |
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On paper, Germany can field an overwhelmingly strong group of 8 players. However, as we saw in their match against Russia, theory can be very different from practice. Virtually all of their rangers are great shots, Neathar, Razer and Yona being the obvious stand-outs, and all can fight well in melee. Zapzarap is a perhaps less well-known name, but in my books just as good as the aforementioned. The Saxon infantry is solid. Scar, Sebe and Superlilli should make short work of their BeNe counterparts – if they’re left alone, that is. Fortunately Germany also has a great supporting element in their cavalry. Alongside their new acquisition, the maestro of cavalry Hives, Germany sports names such as Vivar, Hopkiin and Firunien who are all elite horsemen. On paper, BeNe will be hard-pressed to match this challenge. In terms of leaders, Germany has three: Dragz, Boris and Neathar. All of them are footmen, which isn't ideal given that a leader needs a wide perspective on the map. This may be a calling disadvantage to Germany. | | |
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Map Information
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BeNe | Germany | BeNe | Germany | Germany | BeNe |
Veto1 | Veto2 | Veto3 | Veto4 | Pick1 | Pick2 |
San'di'Boush | Ruins | Naval Outpost | Castellum | Verloren | Frosthaven |
BeNe clearly wants to avoid infantry-heavy maps, which is a wise choice given their obvious disadvantage there. Germany, on the other hand, wants to avoid maps with great archer-cavalry synergy, though there are too many of those to completely rule them out of the map picks. Both teams seem to be well aware of each others' strengths and weaknesses. Only time will tell how well these behemoths can utilize their knowledge to their advantage.
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Verloren, made by AZAN, has solidified its position as one of the classic competitive warband maps. The factions are Vaegirs top, Swadians bottom. This means a potential appearance for the now infamous “Swadian eco round”, though I doubt either team will bother to utilize this unorthodox stratagem. Verloren its known for its devastating crossfires and explosive pushing potential, though cavalry is unfortunately quite limited, forced to attempt long-winded pincer movements in order to catch balcony-camping archers off-guard. Otherwise, archers can often control cavalry quite effectively on this map. LeRoux and Scar’s experiences will certainly come in handy during this map. |
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The second map is Frosthaven, again made by AZAN. It is a new addition to the competitive map pool, and has so far brought us interesting matches. Cavalry and archers play a strong role on this map, and though more infantry CAN work with Nords, this time we “only” have Rhodoks top, Swadians bottom faction. The team that manages to surprise the other will likely hold the edge, as unlike the previous map, much of this map’s potential is still unexplored. As such, there isn’t a lot that this map is known for – though, if I could say one thing about it, it’s certainly quite different depending on where you are. The ice flag spawn favours archers and cavalry, while the tower flag spawn favours coordinated infantry-cavalry-teamwork, as archers will rarely find a good enough crossfire unless the enemy rangers are driven out first. |
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Credits to: Aeronwen for the formatting and editing, Scar for flag images and Kohath for awesome graphic