[BladeCast] Match Preview | Toibois vs Knights of Malta

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DIVISION A - QUARTER FINALS: BLADECAST MATCH PREVIEW



TOIBOIS vs. KNIGHTS OF MALTA



    The Warband Native League has reached its very last stage with the mid-season promotion matches having been concluded in Division A and B, and while Division C will continue the regular ladder format for another three weeks, it’s time for the most interesting, yet most challenging, part of the WNL to start - the playoffs. One match in particular has caught our attention this week, the quarter-final clash between Toibois and the Knights of Malta. In this article, we will take a closer look at both teams’ performances in the WNL thus far and break down their chances to make it to the semi-final.



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TOIBOIS


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Infantry
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Oliveran
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Habimana
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Spada
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Apfel
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Tomayus
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BlackTide
 
Cavalry
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Surkan
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Watly
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Kawaii
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BlackTide
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Spada
 
Rangers
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Toi
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Rainbow
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Kiano


Team Location: Europe
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Roster Strength: 12
Ladder Ranking: 4th
          Previous results
Toibois 7 - 7 Main Eleven
Toibois 12 - 3 Ferocious Trident Wielders
Toibois 2 - 12 Unity
Toibois 9 - 7 Ferocious Trident Wielders
Toibois 8 - 8 House Tully

TEAM PRESENTATION

Most people in the scene will be familiar with Toibois' rosters as the team is a gathering of several native veterans, many of whom played together in past tournaments. The team is centralized around two major cores of players, one being the old Geese Pack team with Watly, Kiano, Surkan, Tomayus and Oliveran while the other consisting of several former Aequalitas players (under the DGS tag for that occasion), namely Kawaii, Spada, Habimana, and Rainbow - the latest also being a key member of Geese Pack while the team was around. Apfel and Toi round-up Toibois’ line-up with their most recent addition being BlackTide who joined the team mid-tournament.

Toibois’ run in this seventh edition of the WNL has been filled with numerous ups and downs. They started off with a close defeat against Main Eleven, which later turned into a draw due to a rule break from their opponent. Their second match was a whitewash as they rolled over Ferocious Trident Wielders, leaving Robin’s men no chance to even exist in that match. Troubles started as they faced Unity in the following match, with the roles being reversed and Toibois being largely dominated by their opponent. Their rematch against FTW during the fourth week also took a completely different path compared to their first encounter, the match being way closer and undecided until the very last set. Netherveless, Toibois triumphed and finished Division A in the fourth position, avoiding relegation matches by the same occasion. Despite their match in the fifth week against House Tully being played for seedings only (as both teams were assured to be qualified for the knockout stage), Toibois certainly showed one of their best faces in the competition thus far and forced House Tully to fight nail and tooth in order to secure the draw. It also showed that while Toibois is not necessarily considered as one of the heavy favourites to win Division A, the team has undisputable qualities and strong upset potential.

Against the Knights of Malta, however, they will have to assume this clear status of favourite and not let it add extra pressure on their shoulders, as morale is often a key aspect of these tricky matches. Toibois latest results have shown them that they can aspire at more and in that sense, not reaching the semi-finals of this competition would probably be a disappointing result in their books. With that being said, taking things step by step and putting their focus on the present challenge is certainly the best way to go further in this WNL.


KNIGHTS OF MALTA


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Infantry
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Bruce
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bulleZ
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Noxx
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PuffTheDragon
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Carpediem
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Haakon
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Demivar
 
Cavalry
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Carpediem
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Haakon
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Normanguy
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Asediado
 
Rangers
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Habrak
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XerXes
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LordMetzger

Team Location: Europe
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Roster Strength: 12
Ladder Ranking: 5th
          Previous results
Knights of Malta 4 - 9 Unity
Knights of Malta 7 - 9 Main Eleven
Knights of Malta 12 - 3 Ferocious Trident Wielders
Knights of Malta 3 - 12 Main Eleven
Knights of Malta 12 - 2 Bengier Squad

TEAM PRESENTATION

The Knights of Malta haven’t had their best tournament so far, only being able to pick up a single victory out of their first four matches. While the team has been showing some great potential since they came back with a new roster, not everything seems to be well rounded within their lineup just yet. This could be explained by the need to replace certain key players within the team between tournaments, but generally speaking, Malta is one of the very few teams which has been keeping a consistent core for several tournaments in a row. Carpediem and PuffTheDragon have been assuming in-game leaders duty for quite some time now, with players like Habrak, Normanguy or Haakon establishing themselves as key members for the team after wearing Malta’s tags in more than one tournament. XerXes has been a recent addition to the team but already played the Warband Winter Cup with them whereas Bruce, Noxx and Asediado have all joined for this competition specifically. It’s also worth mentioning that Demivar, who played for Nilfheim back in 2014, joined Malta mid-competition, as a reinforcement to get around the inactivity of some players within the lineup. Last but not least, bulleZ is the last original Malta player within the current line-up, with their all-time leader Vincent assuming more of a head coach position, impacting the team from an outside perspective and being one of the key factors which keep the whole thing running.

Malta had a slow - but far from disastrous - start, with two close losses against Unity and Main Eleven. Much like their quarter-final opponent Toibois, their third-week match against Ferocious Trident Wielders saw a confident team decimating their opponent 12-3. Unfortunately, due to the tournament system, they had to rematch Main Eleven in the following week, and this time Rayden and his men left the Knights of Malta with no chance to hope for a victory. With that harsh defeat also came the obligation to fight for their survival in a relegation match against Bengier Squad, coming from Division B.

This relegation match, however, ended up serving as a point of reference for Carpediem and his players. The way in which they approached and started their relegation match was extremely solid. Obviously, they were considered as heavy favourites, but they still looked extremely sharp and focused - with their overall cohesion and teamplay giving no chance to Bengier Squad. Obviously, their opponent in this quarter-final is an entirely different beast, yet the same diligence Malta showed last week will be required against Toibois, and while the skill gap between them and their opponent isn’t insurmountable, they will need to find the best version of themselves coming into the match, right from the start.


MAPS AND FACTIONS

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                              The fixtures for the quarter-finals are similar to those played in Week 3, but with different factions on the first map. For its second appearance in the tournament, Waterfall will be played out between Nord and Rhodoks, whereas Swadia will face Vaegirs on the second map, Verloren. As it was to be expected, Waterfall has proven to lend itself quite strongly towards rangers, and many teams have opted to play with three archers or crossbowmen on this map as it offers obvious advantages. While such a composition still perfectly makes sense as Rhodoks, it becomes way more questionable as Nords, a faction which isn’t known for strong ranged capabilities. House Tully was seen running three archers on an open map as Nords earlier in the tournament against Unity, but it was with limited success, making it hard to imagine either Toibois or Malta going for it on this side. It is also worth mentioning that while Toibois have three dedicated rangers in the form of Toi, Kiano, and Rainbow, the Knights of Malta have been functioning with mostly two main rangers, Habrak and XerXes, since LordMetzger has been missing thus far in this WNL. It therefore legitimately questions whether or not Malta will even have the capacity to go for such a setup as Rhodoks, and will instead play a classic composition with two rangers. 

Previous results have shown that with teams of equal skill, Swadia has a distinct advantage against Vaegirs on Verloren. Their capacity to have several awlpikes dropped for cavalries, combined to one of the strongest snowball potentials in the game makes it really hard for Vaegirs to stand a chance. Malta will start as Swadia on the second map, which means that regardless of how the first one goes, they will have a clear advantage once they arrive on Verloren. Such advantage will be important to keep in mind for Carpediem and his men because in the scenario of a close first map, conceding too many rounds on the first side of Verloren would put them in the very uncomfortable situation of having the match potentially decided in the very last set, where Toibois would be more than happy to crush their dreams once for all.



[size=14pt]CAPTAIN'S WORDS


We caught up with Surkan and Carpediem and asked them their opinions about the current run in this season of the WNL thus far as well as their feeling on their upcoming quarter-final.

Surkan - Toibois
The team's been underperforming in scrims, due to the lack of most of our key players during the weekdays. Results in our officials have therefore been a positive surprise to most of us, especially the enforced draw versus Main Eleven and the draw against Tully. We're all players capable of competing at the top, but similar to most new teams, teamplay and positioning aren't always on point. Malta has lost their main inf line-up and has resorted to reserve players, and I'm fairly confident we can beat their team. I don't think there's a single class they outperform us in, and if everything goes well, the match shouldn't be all that difficult. Obviously, they have some good players that need to be looked out for, but every team's got that. The biggest problem for our team so far has been that we're unable to stick to one caller, which is something that's probably most important in any team. Preferably I'm the one calling, but we've been switching between Habi and Watly recently, mostly so I could have some space to make plays myself and partly because I tend to be stuck at work during match hours.

Carpediem - Knights of Malta
You have met your match, ToiBois. Jokes aside, we're stronger than ever. The team with it's current roster has been constantly improving past couple of months. As a commander, I am satisfied that we got to the quarters and had no trouble securing our spot in divison A. I have a really strong feeling we're capable of a lot more, though. Despite our losses in the ladder stage. As a team, we're a bit tired of being close, but never close enough, take the previous tournament as an example. The times has changed and Malta will give hell to all of it's upcoming opponents. With our determination, commitment and dedication, I believe we will turn the tides of this WNL.


BLADECAST STAFF PREDICTIONS

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FINAL ANALYSE & CONCLUSION

                              This quarter-final will certainly set the tone for the rest of the playoffs in Division A, as both teams seem more motivated than ever to make it to the next stage. Toibois are the favorite coming into this quarter-final but not by a significant margin. Their improvement in the WNL so far has been a bit slow and despite some great showings in several occasions, they were not able to consistently find their form in all their matches. Nevertheless, their roster is still filled with reliable and experienced players which will have their hearts set on taking things as seriously as possible, from start to finish. Surkan has evocated the problem Toibois have faced when it comes to their in-game caller(s) and it is to be hoped they will have it fixed for this match.

The main strength of Toibois is having no apparent weakness in all three game departments. On an individual level, Kawaii has been a constant force for his team to rely on. Kiano has also been a positive surprise in the matches he attended and while he isn’t necessarily seen as one of the Toibois’ carries, his ability to kick off at any moment makes him a threat hard to contend with. More generally speaking, Toibois’s ranging trio is going to be one of the defining aspects on Waterfall and a constant thorn in the side of Malta, with Rainbow and Toi being among the most valuable players of the tournament when it comes to headshots. I will also be looking at Surkan’s capacity to create a window of opportunity for his team as the Dutchman is the fourth highest rated player in the tournament when it comes to entry kills and known for an aggressive and fast-paced play-style. His fellow countryman Watly is a coin flip in many regards. While he is one of the players who dies first and teamkills the most, his assist potential is simply unequalled within the team. If he can find the room to express himself and hold on to his supportive role, he could very well be one of the factors turning the match in Toibois’ favor. Apfel, Spada and Tomayus have all shown a great display of brute skill in this competition, which paired with Habimana impressive stats as a spearman, will make Toibois extremely dangerous on Verloren. Let’s not forget Oliveran and BlackTide which both possess massive knowledge of the game on top of really strong individual capabilities.

On their side, Malta will be able to count on their star player, Normanguy, which as mentioned in previous articles, has been their most impressive player in the WNL so far. Helping him in the cavalry department will be Asediado who has also shown some great improvement and should be fully capable to hold his ground against the Toibois players. When it comes to their ranging capabilities, not being able to run a three-crossbow set-up on Waterfall might not end-up that problematic, as Habrak and XerXes have both been one of the main pillars holding the team together in important matches. Carpediem’s capacity to find the first kill will also be an important part of Malta’ success as the polish captain has been consistently doing it for this team throughout the whole tournament, on top of being one of their most active supportive players. Haakon’s love for the morningstar will likely continue as Rhodok on Waterfall and its potential impact shouldn’t be underestimated. In a similar fashion to his adversary of the day, Habimana, bulleZ has shown being extremely reliable with the spear, and will likely have a lot to do on both maps. Malta’s main sign of weakness will most certainly come from their infantry core. While Demivar has shown to be a really interesting recruitment, he alone won’t be able to cover up for PuffTheDragon and Bruce’s absences. The fragging capabilities of these two will be greatly missed and while Noxx will be attending the match tonight to fill-in in that game department, I fear the infantry fight might be too unbalanced when it comes to Verloren. Therefore, Malta’s salvation will have to come from a collective effort, something they are still more than capable of. They have been in this kind of situation more than once to know what has worked for them and what hasn’t.

But will it be enough to overcome Toibois? The Knights of Malta seem to think so and confidence will be key tonight to start things in the best possible manner. You surely don’t want to miss any of the action so make sure to tune in tonight at 20:00 BST on BladeCast_TV because our commentators Viktor and PPK157 are ready to make this match one to be remembered!




MATCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY @BLADECAST_TV, TOURNAMENT BANNER, TEAM BANNERS, MAP THUMBNAILS BELONG TO WARBAND NATIVE LEAGUE, BLADECAST GRAPHIC BY @ROSSLINGTON  ARTICLE WRITTEN BY @TARDEEET, PROOFREAD BY @JARVISANDPI & LEDGER, LAYOUT BY @SCAR
 
For the knockout stage, we figured out it would be worth to slightly change the layout of our previews. The article will, therefore, be a bit longer, with pre-existing or new features. Thanks to Surkan, Carpe and Vincent for their time, tonight's match should be a good one.
 
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