[BladeCast - Storyline] Last chance saloon for the United-Kingdom

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Tardet

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With the recent announcement of Bannerlord Early Access set to March 2020, excitement has been growing inside the community for what could possibly be one of the very last tournaments on Mount & Blade Warband. Obviously, with Bannerlord itself having been announced a while back, the rumours of tournaments being hosted for the very last time go back far in time, so much so that it ended up becoming a well-established joke within the competitive community. For that reason, erring on the side of caution remains the safest approach as it still is to be seen how the game will be received once its access is spread to a larger public.

Nevertheless, there is no arguing that March of next year will be a month awaited by many players of the community, competitive or not, and for that reason, the upcoming tournaments set for the end of this year ( Nations Cup 2019 ) and the beginning of the next one ( Warband Native League 8 ) might be looked back at some of the very last competitions ever played on the game. In the case of the 10th edition of the Nations Cup, applications just closed the Saturday 28th of September, and we are now in the very first week of the competition.

To accompany you in this competition, BladeCast_TV will be publishing a series of contents which we hope will help you to enjoy this tournament to its full extent. Below, you can find a list of some of our upcoming articles, as well as those already published.






In this series of articles, we will take a closer look at some of the participating teams and dive into six of the biggest storylines of this Nations Cup 2019, starting today with the United-Kingdom.
 
BladeCast Storyline - Last chance saloon for the United-Kingdom

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2010
Ranking | 10th
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Captain Lust (C)
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Calodine (C-C)
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MadJackMcMad
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Viper
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Corey
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Eirikur
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Melons
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Lugh
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Rallix
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Foamy
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Ischenous
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Deliverance
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Mabons



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[size=12pt]2011
Ranking | 9th-12th
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Leroy (C)
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David
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Plazek
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Ischenous
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Turanien
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Captain lust
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Corey
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Alex_C
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ProjectAngel
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Disaprate
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Julian
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Crazyboy
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BlackTide
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Corsair831
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Grenadier
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MacKain

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[size=12pt]2012
Ranking | 5th-8th
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David (C)                     
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Alex_C
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Kain
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Anaconda
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Captain Lust
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AZAN
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Crazyboy
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Sammac
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Corey
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BlackTide
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Deacon Barry
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Folms
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M
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ProjectAngel
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Cleric Johnson
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Anthony

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[size=12pt]2013
Ranking | 5th-8th
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Aborson
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Anaconda
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Anthony
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Blacktide
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Captain Lust (C)
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Cleric
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Chase
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ChicKen
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Corsair831
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crazyboy11
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critchy1
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DamnUCorey
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Deacon
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Ellerton
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Farkwad
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Jinge
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Kain
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Leroy
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Moslibi
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ProjectAngel

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[size=12pt]2014
Ranking | 2nd
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Corey (C)
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Deacon
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Cleric
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Blacktide
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Folms
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Crazyboy
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Mitchell
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OGL
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Aborson
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Dr Pepper
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Sair
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Fozzy
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Lust
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Chicken
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Osiris
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Anaconda

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[size=12pt]2015
Ranking | 4th
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crazyboy
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AZAN (C)
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Cleric Johnson
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Blacktide (C)
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Mitchell
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Deacon
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Kain
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Osiris
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Corey
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M
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Shingen
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DoctorPepper
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Mynes
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Novac
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Viktor
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OGL (C)
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Slade

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[size=12pt]2016
Ranking | 3rd
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AZAN
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Cleric_Johnson
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BlackTide
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Mitchell
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Deacon (C)
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Osiris
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Corey
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M
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Anchor
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Shingen
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Pepper
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Anthony
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Gibby
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Hippotitis
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JarvisAndPi
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OGL (C)
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Fietta
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Viktor
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George

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[size=12pt]2017
Ranking | 4th
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Cleric_Johnson
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BlackTide
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Mitchell
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Deacon
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HolyWarrioR
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Anchor
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Hagrid
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Shingen
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Pepper
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Anthony
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Viktor
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Gibby (C)
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PuffTheDragon[
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Hippotitis
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JarvisAndPi
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OGL (C)
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Matt
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AZAN

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[size=12pt]2018 (Team A)
Ranking | 7th
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Holywarrior
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Anchor
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Hagrid
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Pepper
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Mynes
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PuffTheDragon
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Matt (C)
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OGL (C)
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Booker_T
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Borr
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Duck

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[size=12pt]2018 (Team B)
Ranking | 12th
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Kloney
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Osiris
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Herishey
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Anaconda (C)
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Shingen
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Normanguy
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Darius
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Sombie
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Supernova
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Saxxxio
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Apollo (C)
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Hrod
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Zuzu
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king_of_archers

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[size=12pt]2018 (Team C)
Ranking | 9th
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Gibby (C)
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Leggey
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Noimar
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Angola_Merkel
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Fietta
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Hursty
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Flavius
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Addainur
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Ben-Chan
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Snacc
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Mandingo
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Clubbing_Mateee
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Ordessa
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Gazelle (C)

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[size=12pt]2019
Ranking | -
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Gibby (C)
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Deacon
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Cleric
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OGL (C)
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Anchor
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Pepper
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Matt
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Apollo
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Normanguy
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PuffTheDragon
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Mynes
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Frost
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M
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Hrod

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[size=11pt]The United Kingdom is without a doubt one of the most iconic nations to have ever played in the Nations Cup. Present without interruption since 2010, the team’s structure changed throughout the years but it’s worth noticing a real progression in their results, going from a 10th place finish in their first participation, to systematically making the quarter-finals of each edition of the competition since 2013. Ironically enough, that’s where the main problem lies for them. While they showed a lot of constancy throughout the years - not only in their participation, but also in their results - they were never able to peak in form, or at least not enough for them to win a Nations Cup. To get the full picture of the team's situation, it is worth mentioning that the team has some really strong instance of excellent performances throughout the years, like their bronze medal against Turkey in 2014 - which later turned into a silver one, following Russia's disqualification, or a nail-biting and gutting defeat against BeNe in the semi-final of the Nations Cup 16, granting them the bronze. Between these two excellent placings and their regular presence in the top 8, it’s hard to qualify the team’s overall performance as disappointing, but it certainly left most of the UK players with a bitter taste in their mouths, as a gold medal – or an actual presence in a grand-final at the very least – always seemed within touching distance.

It is especially true when looking at their different rosters between the years, very often filled with superstars in each class departments. Between the likes of Deacon, Cleric, David, Corey, M, BlackTide, Azan, OGL, Alexander, Shingen, Gibby, Anchor, or Matt - to only name a few – the different iterations of Team UK all had a plethora of players to choose from. Moreover, they could also count on plenty of other NC enthusiasts, as witnessed during the last edition of the Nation Cup where they were able to field not only two but three UK teams of different skill levels, all with more of a dozen players. Knowing this, what seems to be stopping the United-Kingdom from grabbing its first NC title?


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IS IT FINALLY THE YEAR FOR THE UNITED-KINGDOM?

There definitely might be a slight mental aspect to it. Similar situations can be observed in the higher and more professional instance of competitive online games, where teams face this problem of constantly failing in the very last stage of a tournament, not being able to overcome obstacles or coming alive together when it matters the most. The warband competitive scene doesn’t represent the same amount of pressure with barely any money or fame involved but for the most dedicated players of our scene, the Nations Cup still acts as one of the pinnacles of competitive warband, with a certain national pride carried over matches. All in all, this might affect certain players more than they might think, and while it is detrimental for a team to constantly see itself failing at the same spot, a lot of the UK players have resources within them to finally reach a new level in this competition. It’s about finding it in the important moments, which is easier said than done.

It’s also fair to mention that while splitting teams for the last edition allowed for more players to participate in this event, it didn’t improve the UK’s chances of making it to the very final stage. Their A team was still strong, but handicapped of some very key players such as Apollo, Normanguy, Gibby, or Shingen, all playing for Team B or C. This year however, it seems the UK players have opted for the most reasonable approach of making the best team possible and joining forces instead of dividing them. There will be a second team representing the United Kingdom but all the long-term veterans and most skilled players will be fighting among the same team. This is the first of the many steps they will have to achieve to reach this sought-after gold medal but it shows a strong winning and try-hard mentality from the team.

Same as every year, their roster looks deadly, and while it could use one or two additions in the cavalry department, Hrod's recent pick-up should be helping in that way, meaning the UK will once more have to embrace the status of one of the strongest nations playing in this edition of the Nations Cup. It’s now up to them to make the best of the nine previous competitions, show that they have learned their lessons and prove that they are ready to end the journey of their warband national team in the best possible manner. 




ARTICLE BROUGHT TO YOU BY @BLADECAST_TV, CUSTOM GRAPHICS BY @ROSSLINGTON UK BANNER BY @ROUDRAC ARTICLE WRITTEN BY @TARDEEET, PROOFREAD BY @JARVISANDPI
 
Testing a new format for this edition of the Nations Cup. Instead of forcing a team preview/presentation for each single nations, we will be focusing on the most 'interesting' ones and develop a full article around it. To make up for it, we will try to also give some interview time with the captains of the nations which don't necessarily get the chance to often be featured in the match previews and storylines. We know it ain't optimal but there are 22 nations in this competition and I'm alone writing most of this so we aim at making the best of both world.

Props to Ross for the OP graphics, next's week articles should witness a visual upgrade as well, thanks to him. As per usual, many thanks to Jarvis for the proofread.
 
Thanks for all the positive feedbacks!

Charlini said:
Tardet said:
Testing a new format for this edition of the Nations Cup.

While appreaciating all previous works, think this new one looks really really good, good job.

Yeah, agreed. The idea was to have all the five storylines posted this week, before the first officials. I know I will likely get to post two more, but I am unsure if I will manage to finish all as three of the remaining four consists of not one but two teams. If not this week, they will all be posted early next week.

The two interviews with Watly (NC admin) and Barto (Italian captain) should hopefully be released this evening.
 
Samsara said:
The UK obviously represents the England football team  :lol: Won't be surprised if they started chanting "It's coming home"
My hopes are on Gibby, Norman or Matt to start taunting their opponents with that, from the quarter-final onwards.
 
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