[BladeCast - Match Preview] Promotion Week

[Tardet]

About two months after the Nations Cup 2019 ended, which saw France triumphs over North America in a back and forth grand-final, the attention of the native scene has already turned towards the next and most likely final step before Bannelord Early Access release. From all sides of the community, clans have assembled, old alliances been reforged and new powerhouses created, with for ultimate goal the trophy of the legendary Warband Native League.

Long-awaited, Warband's most storied competition has made its return this February 2020 to write the eighth and potentially final chapter of a legacy which lasted almost an entire decade, defining some of the greatest moments ever witnessed in the competitive scene. Brought to you by the mythical quintette of administrator made of Aeronwen, Bullez, Deacon, Dyktator & Scar, the Warband Native League 8 will be one very last chance for bladers to write their names in the history of the warband community and ascend as ultimate champions.

Such an amazing competition deserve only the best coverage and that's why we will once more dedicate ourselves to bring you as much content as possible in order to make this tournament one to be remembered. What's to be written next, lays in your hands. So sharpen your sword, hold tight to your shield ... and bring it on!

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- Edric's Interview | Dayne (Released) - Krzyzak's Interview | Starks (Released)​

-TBA vs TBA ​

-TBA vs TBA ​

With the ladder stage now being concluded, the promotion matches are about to kick-off this Sunday evening, with height teams from across all divisions being prepared for what could be their most intense match thus far in this Warband Native League 8. For four of them, it’s a fight for survival, the occasion to prove that despite some struggle in their own division, they still deserve to play the next stage there and redeem themselves. For the four other, it’s a unique chance to prove their worth by climbing a spot, after dominating their respective divisions and try to establish themselves in a constantly evolving Warband hierarchy.

 

[Tardet]

Scenery

Due to the factions and maps being similar for all four promotion matches, we figured out it was probably better to present them in details but from a general perspective, even if it means going back to it in the team presentation to discuss a set-up or a player’ skill in detail.

The first map of this week fixtures will be Mountain Fortress with Nords against Swadia. The Swadian forces start close to the open area and have to cross the bridge to enter the city whereas the Nords spawn directly inside, directly in front of the castle. The map has free flags, one at crossroads (closed area), one in ruins (semi-closed area) and one near the chopping block (full open area).

The Nords approach is effectively very simple. They can either go left directly through the left corridor and stairs to contest the ruins flag (and will arrive there before the Swadians) but very few teams go for that approach as it isn’t the best tactical option for map control; or they can simply move forward through the main castle door to contest the crossroad flags, which is most commonly used.

The second tactic looks more fitting as Nords because as the most powerful faction on close maps, you want to take advantage of that tight area where you know their cavalries and crossbowmen will have a limited impact. The main disadvantage remains the timing of that push as you can very quickly see a wall of awlpikes opposed to you, limiting the movement of both your infantries and cavalries. The stairs and the way around to the left of the bridge also offer a relatively safe position to Swadian crossbows who can then render a hazardous push ineffective very quickly. Running a 5 infantries and 1 archer set-up as Nords is viable as it drastically improves your fire-power but also heavily limit your tactical choices would the flag spawn in any other area than crossroads.

As Swadian, you have two main options offered by your spawn. You can decide to go for a direct fight by heading to crossroads through the long bridge. You will effectively arrive before Nords do but remains vulnerable to a quick push and need to set-up your crossbow in time. If a fight breaks out, infantries delaying the engagement will be key to give room for the cavalries to make the difference with their long awlpikes while your crossbows give you important covering fire.

Or, you can take the long way to Ruins through the right. As we mentioned above, you arrive later than Nords but since they often do not want to contest that portion of the map, it still remains a good approach to set-up a deadly crossfire, and you can still easily retreat in the open, would the flag spawn there. Obviously, the downside is that you completely give-up crossroads to Nords and will have a hard time taking it back, as Swadian strive best defensively. At ruins, one key element is the balcony but you won’t always be in the position to fight for its control and giving it up to Nords archer is not the worse of the compromise. It’s not the easiest flag to fight under for cavalries with many borders, walls and such limiting your speed but that’s where experienced players will know how to make the best of it.

The last flag is often the less active part of the map. Due to the way Mountain Fortress is shaped, you will often end-up fighting close to the main stairs (making the liaison between the city and the open ground) and near the bridge, at crossroads or at Ruins’ entrance, even if the flag spawns in the open, simply because you do not want to give-up key position to your opponent to surround you once you are in the open. Would you have to fight near the flag, Swadia’s cavalries will obviously have the upper hand, however, Nords can quickly become very hard to contain with if they use their javelins effectively on both their cavalries and infantries. It will be mostly up to Swadian crossbows to find the best positions to hold (mostly around rooftop below the bridge or at spawn) to counter Nords’ advance as much as possible.

Economy wise, the meta favours Swadia in that match-up. They do have the weaker infantry by a large margin but if they manage to take the first round, the snowball potential is off of the charts. Not only can they get a Haubergeon on every infantries who get a kill, but they can also steal axes, javelins and superior shields from their enemies. On the other hand, Nords cavalries can also get a nice upgrade with the powerful Swadian long awlpikes but it takes longer to gear-up their infantries nicely.

 

[Tardet]

Scenery

The second map will be Frosthaven, with Vaegirs taking on a double featured Nord faction. If there was an argument for Swadia being able to contest Nords on the close map, the situation is hardly reversed here on Frosthaven. Vaegirs are the masters of open maps and have proven it countless times over the years. To be efficient, Nords must play a very tight game leaving barely any room for mistakes. The map has free flags, one near the boat and the round tower (full open area), one near the Nord’ spawn (semi-open area) and one near the squared tower (semi-open area).

From their spawns, the Vaegirs can easily contest two flags. The safest option consists of taking the squared tower then moving a bit forward near the crossroads, at the centre of the town. That way, you have the full control of one flag and you can either catch rotation or attacks the two other flags without losing too much time. The second option is riskier as it requires you to head directly to the right, to contest the open flag near the boat. From that position, you can both wait with most of your forces behind the hills and send an archer boat, which gives you a strong crossfire or try and contest tower. If fighting at the rounded tower might seem dangerous considering how easy Nords can exhaust you with their javelins before sending their infantry at you, it could also be a tactic to bait Nords into moving close to the rounded tower, so that you can engage them with your cavalries in the forest. It’s more of a gamble as you might not make the best of your archers positioning however, Nords will have to fight up-hill which is always hard to do, giving Vaegirs an important edge.

Would they decide to wait for the open flag, it’s probably even worse for Nords. Yes, they can set-up an archer in the tower and give him a strong position but it becomes a race against time as you can’t choose to do everything. Either you clean the boat to break the crossfire established (which is obviously easier said than done) and lose a considerable amount of time doing so or you decide to head directly for the flag where you expose your infantries to deadly crossfire and massive cavalry pressure.

The squared tower flag is probably less difficult to deal with for the Nords. From their spawn, they can quickly apply pressure to the Vaegirs by moving their cavalries to the right and bait Vaegirs’ own cavalries into duels but also take control of the archway which makes it hard for their opponent to keep full control of that area. At the end of the day, this fight often comes down to who gets the best coordination between their cavalries and infantries under the flag, all archers positions being really hard to contest for either team.

The last flag at Nord’ spawn is more tactical than it appears. Nords will likely position an archer on the hill, directly where the team spawns, and try to keep him there for as long as possible. The second archer often plays a bit further back between the trees or closer to the fight under the roof. It’s tempting for the team attacking to quickly rush the fight and try to either contest the left portion with the spawn hill or the right one with the alley(s) near the town but as for everything, time is of the essence and while you don’t want to wait too much as Nords will likely be raising the flag in the meantime, making a good use of your archers to harass your opponents (which will be way more exposed than you) will be key to tip the scales in favour of your team.

From an economical perspective, there is nothing worth being noted. Both teams are on a pretty even ground in the sense that they cannot build-up too quickly, avoiding snowballing and near impossible comebacks.

 

[Tardet]

	Division A Promotion Match​
New Warband Order​		Doner​

Infantries​	Cavalries​	Rangers​		Rangers	Cavalries	Infantries
Boris Bruce Jubeg Oliveran Sebek	Dopey Firunien Nomes​	Atilla OGL Prince SpheRe		Aeronwen Airelhach Ness Luther	Grafblade Grifon huN Messius Ossi	Ascarion Grafblade Grifon Pilgrim Rider Shovenio

The New Warband Order is a team mostly composed of veterans returning once more to the game, with most of its core having played together among the legendary Irish Rebels team, finalist of the WNL5. As it was expected, however, its players were rather rusty, with only OGL, Sebek, Firunien or Dopey having competed in the most recent tournaments and this impacted their results as they were sorely defeated in their opening match against Frontline Tactics. Overall, the tournament went as expected for them. With Division A being spread quite evenly between the three top teams and the three bottom teams, the New Warband Order only really had a shot at winning against Ferocious Trident Wielders and House Stark. Both matches went down to the wire but it was their opponents who prevailed each time, putting the team at the last place of their division after four weeks of competition.

They will be going against Doner who had an impressive run in Division B, certainly not the one most people would have expected. After starting strong against Menace, they were slowed down by Defender of Faith the following week, having to concede the draw. But that’s during the third week that huN’s team took a whole other dimension, absolutely decimating the likes of Invictus Legion, 12-0. From that point, there was only one last challenge to face in that ladder stage, against Dayne, the other very successful team in Division B. The match went back and forth but it was Doner which prevailed in the end, making the difference on River Village.

Tonight, Doner must once again up their level if they intend to contest New Warband Order. Surely, the skill gap isn’t that huge, especially knowing Doner individuals have been training more than their opponents. But Boris’ men are not as rusty as they were when the tournament started and against Doner, they will certainly come in knowing they have the experience edge. Their line-up is filled-up with names which have countless trophies under their belts and know how to deal with these sort of pressuring scenarios. Is it really time for Doner to show that their players are finally ready to shine and outperform the Warband Old Guard?

In order to do so, players like their captain huN, Ascarion, Airelhach, Rider or Grifon will be key in giving confidence to Doner and show the rest of their line-up that they do have the capabilities to contest that match. Doner’s pivotal point will be their balanced roster, leaving very few cracks in their armour. However, if nWo ends-up showing up with their A roster, they have a line-up which definitely is worthy of Division A. With OGL, Prince and Attila as rangers, Firunien, Nomes as cavalries and Sebek, Bruce and Oliveran as infantries, the New Warband Order will come in as the favourite in that match-up. But if Doner can manage to make them doubt themselves by keeping the encounter close and tense in the long term, then who knows what can happen.

 

[Tardet]

	Division B Promotion Match​
Men of Borr​		Rivia​

Infantries​	Cavalries​	Rangers​		Rangers	Cavalries	Infantries
Eijnar Raven Scarlet Luma Walja	Juke Pelli Raven Slow Walja	Flavberg Lola Livso Pepper Sigmar		SteelYr LightBrain AKE_BOU	Nexoner JaklaK Tulkas AKE_BOU	CTH Thorvic Korift Aymerald Neena

Men of Borr have been around for quite a while now and looking at it more in details, they are actually one of the oldest team in this WNL, having first played back in the Warband Summer Cup in 2017 and having been featured on half a dozen tournaments since then. They competitive road has been filled with ups and downs but overall – and despite some heavy roster changes - the team managed to establish themselves as a serious contender for Tier2 as they pulled some strong upsets along the way. In this WNL8, it appears many people still had the team at the bottom of Division B, which can be explained mostly due to their unbalanced roster mixed with long-time MoB members but with very little competitive experienced, and more known competitive players who joined the roster for this edition of the WNL (or one before) such as Raven, Slow or Pepper.

In this edition, the team had a close first match which they couldn’t edge out against Invictus Legion but the first big surprise was when they managed to upset Fallen Pride in the following week, giving the team more depth than what some people could have argued it had. Unfortunately for them, Walja and his men were not able to capitalize on it and things went from bad to worse as they were sorely defeated by Menace, then by the Assyrian Empire, leaving MoB hanging at a harsh 7th place.

To show that they still deserve to play the next stage in Division B, Men of Borr will have to go against the new hot prospect in Division C, Rivia. The French team was assembled for this edition and even though the native experience of its players doesn’t seem to match the one of MoB members, it was still enough to power them through Division C. They dominated every single one of their opponent to the exception of Kobetourage, the North American team. Fighting for a spot in that promotion match, Kobetourage and Rivia went head to head and if the Americans had the skill and the experience on their side, the ping difference proved a little too much to handle in the end as the Frenchmen managed to narrowly clutch the win, 9-8.

This match will be as much of a skill battle as a mental one, with MoB likely coming in with their morale slightly down and Rivia still unsure of what their real strength against such a team is. If Rivia can get a strong start, then it could play inside MoB’s heads and give the Frenchmen an important mental edge. On the other hand, it’s the perfect occasion for the less experienced members to show they can show-up when required and even though MoB star players alone can carry them through victories, it would be a huge morale boost for the later stage that to see a team effort prevail.

 

[Tardet]

The Yummy Senate vs Warbandits​

 

[Tardet]

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	Division A Promotion Match​
House Stark​		House Dayne of Starfall​

Infantries​	Cavalries​	Rangers​		Rangers	Cavalries	Infantries
ONeil Zulu Zoyka Longinus Scarta Einar Sleeper	Aela Azorekt Sikici Krzyzak Leonidas​	ReD_WaR Meldo		Troister Elwaen Rainbow	Kloney Edric Murloc Elwaen Torrhen	Troister Angel Vince Aiku Flavius Kloney

​

The last promotion match will see House Stark defending their spot in Division A against the rising prospect that is House Dayne, coming from Division B.

House Dayne had a fantastic start in the tournament, defeating Assyrian Empire, Invictus Legion and Defender of Faith in the first free weeks. The more time passed, the closer the results got yet each time, Edric and his squad seemed to be in control of their faith until their fourth and final ladder stage encounter where they were caught off-guard by a rising Doner team. Dayne managed to make the score close in the end but Doner was one step above in that clash and stole them the first place of Division B.

Yet, not all was lost for House Dayne. Their solid performance in the other matches granted them a well-deserved second place, qualifying them for the promotion week. But the toughest of challenges awaits for them in the form of House Stark, who conceded the 4th place of Division A to Ferocious Trident Wielders, after having narrowly lost to them in the opening week, 9-7.

Initially meant to play in Division B, House Stark - a team formed specifically for this tournament but with a core having played the last NC together under the Poland B banner – ended-up promoted to Division A due to a lack of top at the highest level. It was definitely a huge challenge for them yet they don’t have to be ashamed of their result. They couldn’t do much against the likes of Unity and Malta but brought their match against Ferocious Trident Wielders down to the wire and prevailed in another tense encounter against New Warband Order. If it wasn’t enough to directly qualify them for the playoffs of Division A, the team showed some strong qualities in this WNL8 and will be coming in as favorite in that match-up against House Dayne.

The main issue will mostly come down to whether or not Dayne learnt from their mistakes last week but also if they can show up with their A team. They cannot afford to miss a key player in this particular match-up as individual skills seem to be strongly heading in favour of House Stark. But if things are clicking well then Dayne have shown an amazing potential this season and could definitely contest House Stark in several aspects of that game. Edric, Kloney and Rainbow will be three players you should keep an eye on from Daynes as they have been heavily impacting their team positive results thus far. On House Stark’ side, their roster’s main strength is how balanced it is and how nearly each of their players has this capacity to single-handedly carry a game, or at a bare minimum, a side. Oneil’s recent addition will certainly contribute to increasing that individual skill potential and will be an excellent occasion for the young British infantry to show that banter and trash talk left aside, he has an indisputable talent for the game.

 

[Tardet]

This one is going to be a tough challenge that's why instead of publishing everything 15 minutes before match time and not letting people enough time to read it, I will be making a scheduled reveal of the scenery and different match-ups so that I can publish stuff as soon as I am done writing them.

Obviously, this means that I will likely not finish everything in time and I am sorry in advance if some stuff feels a bit botched but I really wanted to try and cover the promotion matches with a preview so here goes.

Also, the scenery analysis is mostly aimed at less experienced players. I know for most of you what you will read is going to sound a bit too useless to be mentioned but you obviously don't need to read the whole thing, you can just wait for match-ups previews which will focus mostly on team strengths.

 

[CIIGES of the low lands]

very sick, looking forward to the reads.

 

[Apollo ?]

very sick, looking forward to the reads.

 

[Tardet]

The scenery part has been finished. Will try to use the remaining three hours to complete most of the match-ups writtings.

 

[Flaviuss]

Dayne v Stark will take place next week due to holidays among dayne

 

[Apollo ?]

the famous dayne holidays xD

 

[Tardet]

New Warband Order vs Doner match has been updated.

 

[huN]

thats a great review, good job!

 

[Flaviuss]

the famous dayne holidays xD

nah thats later in the year, thats the proper proper one

 

[Tardet]

Sorry I couldn't get Senate vs Warbandits one in time. Will defo get Stark vs Dayne ready for tomorrow.

 

[Airelhach]

ness is polak btw, he isnt nessa who is turkish

 

[Tardet]

ness is polak btw, he isnt nessa who is turkish

yup sorry, mixed-up the two

Its been fixed thanks

 

[Habrak]

Lovely and nerdy, well-done