The Warband Summer Cup is less than two days away, kicking off on today, August 19 with the first group stage matches. The second part of our series of previews ahead of the €300 event features the Mid-tier, which includes Aequalitas, Battle Ready Orphan, EatWhatYouKill, Ferocious Trident Wielders, Knights of Malta, Polish Eagles, Sacrosanct Tidle Turtles & Trinity.
It has been some time since the last 8v8 tournament took place. The Battle of Bucharest LAN (BoB), which adopted a 5v5 format for matches, was undoubtedly responsible for reshaping some of the previously established norms with regards to the format of competitive matches. The significant changes that characterized the BoB led to questions being asked as to what was the most competitive and challenging format for future tournaments. Not long after the BoB, came the European Championship Fives (EC5), another highly competitive 5v5 tournament (online this time) which boasted a roster of extremely skilled teams. AE Gold, an offspring squad from their parent team and long-term champions Apis Europae, secured the winning title in a convincing victory against Frontline Tactics, an up and coming competitive team compiled of veteran players.
But old habits die hard and with Bannerlord still nowhere to be seen, it is no big surprise to see the tournament format returning to its original form. Seven months after the end of the second editions of the prestigious Warband Pro League (WPL2), the Warband Summer Cup is about to commence with twenty teams being separated into four groups (A, B, C, D) in what promises to be a very intense and competitive event.
In this article, the teams have been separated into three distinct skill categories, based on their recent results, if any, and roster strength. The categories (from least skilled to most) are: the Underdogs, the Mid-tier, and the Favorites.
We've already released our first part of the series of previews ahead of the tournament surrounding the seven Underdogs and the first part of the Mid Tier.
Today, we delve into the second part of the Mid-tier, where we have five more teams that we think have a good chance of making the playoffs, but, at the end of the day, some of them will inevitably miss out. Due to technical issue, we could only post half of the contents, the rest will be realised tomorrow, in the afternoon.
Online placings in the last few months
- None
| Eat What You Kill led by Harman, Ceasar, and Black_War is one of those high potential teams, but which remain sort of a one-shot project and hardly ever continue playing with the same brand after the tournament they were created for. Therefore, since it’s a bit hard to speak about their previous tournament, better to focus on what makes this team look relatively dangerous for the rest of their group. Harman, their captain and most certainly in-game leader, is one of the best tacticians in the game and has proven in the past that he’s a more than capable cavalry. Black_War and Red_War will be both playing as ranger, the latest having proven how dangerous he could be throughout the whole NC2017. Virus, a veteran and legendary polish archer, will be completing their archer squad which certainly makes EK capable of dominating the ranged fight against numerous teams, or at least be on a level playing field. Shoxi, Belendor, and Prusak are their three main cavalries and if their skill is not matching those of the very best cavalry players, there is no doubt they can play their role perfectly by providing good support to the rest of the team and taking the kills when it matters. Meldo, Ceasar, and Tallie are also capable to play the following class would EK judge it necessary, but could also be part of the main infantry squad, which is completed by Saxxio, Gannicus, BlackDevil and Moroman, making it pretty decent overall. However, EK is stuck in a group where two teams are a bit ahead of them, at least on paper. Frontline Tactics is the new rising powerhouse of the scene, and Aequalitas are used to complex and tense match situations, and neither of them are ready to give up their spot in the playoffs. If EK wants to get this place they’re going to have to fight for it and at least beat one of those two. While it might look complicated in theory, Eat What You Kill have a roster which could very well accomplish miracles if well trained. A story to be continued? |
Online placings in the last few months
- Warband Pro League Season 2 | 9th Place
- Warband Master Tours Season 2 |11th Place
| Ferocious Trident Wielders is a clan which has been around for quite sometime now, and has certainly had its ups and downs when speaking about tournaments. The team, lead by Robin, showed that they could certainly surprise many people, as their excellent showing in both the latest seasons of the WNL and the ECS can testify. However, their latest results have been fairly disappointing, failing to qualify for the playoffs in both the second edition of the Warband Master Tours and Warband Pro League, but never by much. The question remains, can Ferocious Trident Wielders still surprise? Looking at their roster, they possess an interesting bunch of players, some playing together for quite a long time already, making FTW look strong in all three-class categories. Feanor, Max, Samu, Kiano, and Deztructor form an extremely solid ranger squad, players probably getting picked up in regards to their map strength, factions, or individual form. As far as their cavalry are concerned, they shouldn’t have any problem against most mid-tier teams and will be capable of giving a fair fight to better ones. Robin, their captain, will be fighting alongside known and experienced players such as Flawin, Asediado, and Raven, all having proven their worth in several tournaments. However, it is probably their infantry which stands out the most as it contains some of the oldest members of the clan, such as Mynes, Sabo, DaRedViper, Soul, and Oz. The synergy they’re capable of could very well be a problem for some teams to handle. n theory, Ferocious Trident Wielders have all the reasons in the world to be confident. Their group is arguably one of the easiest among all four, and they have good chances against all of their opponents, with the exception of Castellans. But even then, Robin and his boys have proven they are capable of upsetting better teams in the group-stage, and could very well reproduce the same exploit should Castellans underestimate them. Moreover, their training matches have been extremely satisfying so far, so if they can keep up their good form coming into their first official matches then Ferocious Trident Wielders should have no problem whatsoever to qualify for the playoffs phase. | 
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IBut can they make it further than the Quarter Finals? It will be FTW’s task to prove to the community that they have what it takes to be part of the very best teams in this tournament.
Online placings in the last few months
- None
| Winner of the first edition of the ECL, it’s been a while since the Knights of Malta have played in the warband scene. Most will probably remember them as a really solid team which, if they weren’t really part of the very top, could still be a tough challenge for most. After playing and leading Tranquility alongside Apollo for quite some time, Kragen finally decided to reform Malta, with Vincent and bomba, for the Warband Summer Cup. However, same as the Bohemian Guards, it’s been a really long time since most of their players participated in a tournament, and there is no way their game-sense will still be sharp, and they might be a tad rusty when it comes to pure individual skill. Moreover, not all the former players returned in the team, making it hard to evaluate the true potential and strength of the Knights of Malta. Within their roster they’re certainly a fair bunch of players which could be a problem for most teams, but eventually they might lack one or two star-players, capable of performing in any sort of situation, to be able to challenge the top teams of their group. Vincent and Kragen will certainly be part of their best infantry, alongside Dr_Doener if he actually shows up. Together those three are experienced infantries which could very well be capable of having a high impact on Malta’s game. Bullez, Blubb, and Asar complete the rest of the infantry squad. Another important player which has returned recently is bomba, certainly their best ranger, who will be playing alongside Metzger, Sigmar, and Dome. Finally, their cavalry is composed of Avantro, Dangii, EyeCatcher, and Krex, the latter two certainly being their most valuable assets in that department. It is unsure if Malta actually have high hopes for this tournament or if they just intend to get back into the swing of the competition. However, what’s certain is that if Kragen’s team aims for a place in the playoffs, they will need to show flawless cohesion as much as individual prowess, since Unity and Tilde Turtles are the heavy favorites in their group. |
| Sacrosanct has been evolving for quite a long time on Mercenaries and established themselves as one of the most dangerous team of the mod without a doubt. However, it will be the first time they compete in a native tournament under such name. That being said, Garde, their leader, is all but not a newcomer on the scene. He has been in command of Fearless for quite a long time now and if the team never really manage to win an important tournament nor being able to match the skill of the very best teams, things could very well change with Sacrosanct and very much as they did on Mercenaries, become one of the rising clan on the native scene. Their roster isn’t huge but nearly all of their players are veterans or rather well experienced players. For instance, Garde, Pusiak and Sir_Arthur makes a formidable cavalry trio while their infantry consisting of Ascarion, PuffTheDragon, Silver and Alex_Bus which all have been improved quite a lot recently. Their rangers should also be very difficult to deal with as their squad consist of a well-known member of the scene, Bendetto, but also Royal and Airelhach which both have years of experience in the game. However, having to play against both Apis Europae and Polish Eagle is no easy task for a recent team, no matter how good their players are. Sacrosanct are forced to beat at least one of them if they want to hope qualifying for the playoffs phase which, looking at their roster, should be something than probably aim for. Their latest addition in the form of BlackTide, a player who has nearly always played at the highest level of the competition will certainly be very useful coming into their match against Apis Europae, as BlackTide often played against them and even with them. But it will be enough to defeat them? | 
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Online placings in the last few months
- Warband Monthly League | 6th Place
| Trinity is the last team of this preview and also one of the newcomer in this tournament. Lead by ReneKB and Rapez, two formers members of the Guard of Istiniar, they have been kind of flying under the radars until now as there is not much we know about them nor about the preparation they got. Their roster is still pretty decent as it contains a mix of veterans coupled with some unknown or relatively new players. Not all of them are experienced with Native but those who aren’t have still played competitive warband in other communities. Since ReneKB is in vacations until end of August, Rapez and Haakon are in charge and will be the one commanding Trinity in matches. Tiberius, Kokosz, Swap and Blackmore are all part of the main cavalry squad and if Haakon is also a decent cavalry, he might aswell be playing alongside the other infantries which are Rapez, Kiron, Haered, Laalaa and Alex. It is very easy to recognize many others ex Istiniar Guard players among their ranks and their rangers make no exception Pepa, Tristan, Yans and Luther. Kore and Amalaric finish to complete the Trinity roster, both being versatile player capable to play infantry or archer. However, it’s been a very long time some of those players have participated in a high-level native tournament and considering the high level there is in the WSC, I don’t really see much possibility for them to make it out of the groups. It will be most certainly more about trying to get experience together as a team and see how they react to complex situations, in order to have something to work on for future tournaments, would they stick together after this competition. |
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY @TARDEEET, PROOFREAD BY @JARVISANDPI, DESIGN INSPIRATION BY @HLTV.ORG, HEADER BY @ROSSLINGTONZ
