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Hawkband
Roster | |
Jurgen
Ajlexander
Havoc
Parander
rrmaN
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Sylvari
Lirih
Brazdnt
Mikail
Puma
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Lead by Jurgen, Hawkband might appear as a new face among the competitive scene but this is hardly their first show. The CIS squad (with a large proportion of Turkish players) already participated in a few tournaments, even though in their latest appearance in the Warband Blitz League they had the misfortune of drawing Frontline Tactics in the first round. Most of their players' experience with Native goes back quite some time, and Hawkband aspires to not only become one of the best teams in the scene but--more importantly--to prepare for Bannelord, where they also intend to become a formidable force. To do so, Jurgen has assembled the best players he could find and practised intensely prior to the BladeCast Masters. Looking forward, this tournament will be an occasion for their squad to prove their worth and gain experience in the numerous matches they have to play. If it is hard to see them making their way out of the qualifier stage, the group stage is the perfect chance for them to start making a name for themselves by coming out ahead of some of the teams within their group. Their first matches will see them facing House Forrester, then Lost in Lidl shortly after, and are undoubtedly a perfect way to start things off.
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Blackkingdoms
Roster | |
blackkot
SpaceMoryak
HellKnight
Trillram
vladokalepaty
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Alonzo
Aptyp4ik
Papeshkin
SultanSuleimanHazretleri
ArghTheGreat
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Also coming from the CIS region is Blackkingdoms, a new team and still relatively unknown on the international scene. Lead by Blackkot, most of their players appear to have a strong experience with Native as they have played the game for many years. With that being said, the only tournaments they joined happened to be within the Russian scene, so as their first international competition, it is clear that they don't expect much and have mostly joined to gain experience. Talking with Blackkot, it also appears that Blackkingdoms may no longer exist after the BladeCast Masters, so rather than looking at achieving the best results possible, this tournament will most likely be an occasion for them to enjoy playing as a group one last time.
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Polish Eagles
Roster | |
Cramer
Warhammer
Blue
Prince
Blackhawk
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Matafiks
Zahari
Garde
Hippotitis
Bendetto
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Polish Eagles are no stranger to Native as they have joined countless tournaments over the years and have established themselves as one of the best Polish teams in competitive history. The team had several breaks through their numerous years of activity and they come back after an unfortunate finish at the first edition of the Warband Summer Cup, where they exited the tournament after a rather one-sided loss against Frontline Tactics in the Quarter-Finals. Considered as the heavy favourite in their group, Polish Eagles are expected to come out on top of all their matches even though they will have to consider the potential threats that the newly assembled squads Inversed Brains and The Flaming Fist represent. Lacking a bit in the cavalry department, Polish Eagles availed themselves of the services of Hippotitis, a long-time member of Battle Ready Orphans, and Garde, the former leader of Sacrosanct. It remains to be seen if the fact that neither of them speaks Polish will affect team synergy and communication. However, both are extremely capable cavalry players and these additions were desperately needed if Polish Eagles intend to remain competitive in all aspects. The rest of the team hasn't changed much. Blue will be joining Hippotitis and Garde as cavalry, with Warhammer able to step up as a fourth if needed. Their ranger duo certainly represents their deadliest asset with Matafiks and Prince reliable as always. Lastly, Crammer, Warhammer, Blackhawk and Zahari will form a solid and experienced infantry core which should represent a massive obstacle to any of the four other teams in their group.
The real question for Polish Eagles will be to know how far they can go if they manage to make it out of the qualifiers. The squad is often underestimated and--as proven during the last Warband Masters Tour--can achieve impressive upsets in good conditions. However, the four invited teams all present a huge challenge for Polish Eagles, which may be a favourite for the qualifiers but will be facing a difficult challenge if they make it to the main event regardless of who they face first. It will be important to take things steps by steps to slowly gain in power, developing synergy with their latest additions but also avoiding being upset themselves.
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Friendship Ends Gardaşlık Never
Roster | |
Iskender
Thorin
Ssiyah
Pierro
Metehanyus
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Medium
AtillaHan
Gladi
Echelon
Fatih
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Much like their CIS counterparts presented earlier in this article, Friendship Ends Gardaşlık Never (Gardaşlık in short) is a Turkish team with carries little to no experience on the competitive side of things, at least on an international level. On their own scene, however, they are also known as GH/CoA and had their fair share of matches so they are not coming into this tournament completely blind. In a group which is composed of other relatively new teams, it will be interesting to see what sort of results they can get but it would be a sensational upset if they were to make it to the main stage. With that being said, their first match against Back 2 Main Menu saw them taking a close but important victory, ending up on a 8-7 score. This should boost their confidence going into their next match coming later this week.
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