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The interview with Turkey's tenacious and capable captain, Napoleon, was conducted before last nights astoundingly exciting and close fought match that went to the tiebreaker

[quote author=Atatürk's Oration to the Turkish Youth]"You will find the strength you need in your noble blood."[/quote]



Semi Final Sunday in the Nations Cup 2015 today and we have a little bit of preview action for you, in the form of an interview with Turkish Captain Napoleon.

He's a strong captain and leader of a Turkish side which many have seen as the favourites to win the whole tournament since the moment it started. Read the full interview below.

You can watch both of the Nations Cup 2015 Semi-Finals streamed by MB_tv: UK vs Poland; Turkey vs Belgium & Netherlands

Follow Napoleon on Twitter @GuyFawkes_MBW

MnBComp:Congratulations on what looked like a coast past the USA into the semi-finals. What, if anything, did you take away from the match and how do you think such a one-sided victory will affect the team?*

MnBComp: I was worried about USA because I had no idea about NA region, so they were always like a surprise-box to me. We stuck to our plan the whole time, and they started playing undisicplined. After that moment, the match became pretty easy. I was expecting it to be the hardest match of the tourney though. In addition I want to send my best wishes to Arys because he let us play whole match on the most fair server.

MnBComp:Going into big matches, what kind of difference does it make having experienced, in-form players like Menethil and Tirtil on the team, from whom you can almost always expect to see a big performance?*

MnBComp: As every team remaining in the tourney, also our team consist of high skilled players. Menethil and Tirtil are just two of them. Irsman and Can is giving shiny performances even more than I expected recently. They improved themselves a lot during tourney. I got to thank to them smile emoticon

MnBComp:Looking to your semi-final confrontation with Belgium & Netherlands, how do you see the match playing out and what threats are you concerned about from your lowland opponents?*

MnBComp: BeNe was far away from their recent performance. They improved a lot on training matches. They got solid archers like LeRoux and Caius. More than individual skills they play so organised like a clan, not like a national team that formed 2-3 months ago. No doubt it will be hard match but our main goal is finishing it 16-0, as always.

MnBComp:The maps this week don't seem to have a whole lot of space for cavalry heavy tactics. Do you consider that a positive or a negative for the Turkish team and why?*

MnBComp: I was not used to play with heavy cavalry setups, because that tactic has developed on WNL3 when I was completely away from Warband competitive scene. I got used to it on WNL4, better say forced to get used to it grin emoticon Now we are doing okay with it. I don't think BeNe can play heavy cavalry tactics well since they don't have enough cav player, that is an advantage for them, but I cannot say it is a negative effect for us.

MnBComp:Team Turkey have reached the top three of every Nations Cup tournament for the past four years without claiming a victory. What gives you belief that you can finally conquer the world and take first place this year?*

MnBComp: I was part of NC12 and NC13 Turkish Team. I didn't participate most of events on NC12 but I was one of the captains of NC13 team and will never forget the final match against Team Germany. We lost it on last round. Now I lead the Turkish Team on NC15. Turkish community always thinks that Turks made this game but the Turkish Team haven't taken the first place on Nation's Cup yet. That is a major effect that pushes us forward.
~***~​

More info on the Nations Cup here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.

 
This week OGL invented the term "Raw Warband" for one of our matches.  Click the link and like the page.


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In the final week of the group stage of the European Championship Series, these are the results:

Group A
In Group A the Alliance of Destruction managed to beat Polish Eagles, a team they had lost to earlier in the stage, a very tense and close match, going back and forth. Castellan's OurGloriousLeader invented a new term for how both teams approached the match: “Raw Warband”
Pure, raw Warband at its finest. Be sure to check out the match here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdB5tkJ8kDA

Group B
The 2nd place match for Group B resulted in a clear win for WeDontYou over Heroes. A clean sweep by one's of the scene's strongest teams. If you want to rewatch some of the dominance WeDontYou showed the scene, you can find the VOD for the match right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9avKn1wPBAE

Group C
Group C ended with a 10-4 victory for The Irish Rebels over The Defenders of Faith, a close match to call at the start. During the match itself, it became clear IR had found some composure over their last matches, and although DoF tried their best, and give it their all, it wasn't enough. The Irish Rebels advance to the knockout stage of the ECS. Watch the action here: https://youtu.be/9s4U85H9MNI

Group D
Group D offered us one of the closest matches we have seen so far in this tournament. A real nail-biter. The Guard of Istiniar once again faced Wolfpack. A team they had previously beaten, but a team that had shown they were ready to take on the bigger challenges, the top teams. Both teams showed us a close and amazing game, with the lead changing several times, although Wolfpack would in the end lose 7-9. Definately a match you should rewatch when you have the time, you can find this amazing match right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8kF78GISFs

As we have finally reached the knockout stage of the tournament, you can expect more close and crazy matches from all the teams. To make sure you are up to date with the streams and the European Championship Series, here's a list of places where you can find all the information you need!

Follow us on twitter at @MnBcomp, you get the latest information as well as links to interviews and interesting forum news.


Follow @captainlust, he is the host of MB_tv, and you will surely find information on his latest streams as well as information of the competitive Mount&Blade: Warband scene.


Subscribe to MB_tv on YouTube, this is the place where you will find all the VODs and the interviews of all the streamed matches! A big must for every Warband fan!
~***~​

More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.


Thanks to Le Roux for the riveting write-up.
Just to reiterate, Competitive Mount & Blade Facebook is for the use of anyone running a M&B tournament.  Just send a graphic and a text to the editors Aeronwen, Captain Lust or  Le Roux
 
Silver or Mithril?
‘light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim’




On Saturday at 19:00 BST MB_tv brings you the match between Alliance of Destruction, the only team from the Qualifiers still in, and Apis Europae, one of the most skilled clans in Warband. Watch it here: http://www.twitch.tv/mb_tv



*MnBComp: Congratulations on your win against Polish Eagles and on being the only team to come from the qualifiers and make it through to the Quarter Final stage.

After losing to PE in the first week, you were able to overcome them when rematched in the 2nd Place Match. What was it that went differently the second time around?

Silver: Thank you. Both matches were great and tense, it definitely was a pleasure to be able to play in them. In the first one we didn't know a lot about PE's strats, the way they play. It was the first match we had ever played against them. Bad decisions lead us to the defeat, so we made a few changes before the second match. We have changed the map picking, the captain, become more serious.


*MnBComp: Speaking in the post-match interview, you mentioned that your team has a mix of players from way back when aD were originally an active force in Native, alongside newer additions. What, if any, trends do you notice between players with different backgrounds, in terms of ability and attitude?

Silver: When we started to play in ECS we had 3 or 4 players from the old times, but now it's just me and RaGe. It's a great problem in CIS** community - losing passion for the game. Now we've got players from different CIS teams and all of us have some special experience. Sometimes it can be useful, sometimes it's not. However all the players are great in terms of their skills, it's a pleasure to play among them.


*MnBComp: Referring once again to that interview, you had some very nice words to say about the international community in Europe. Do you think there are more active Russian teams or even just players who would enjoy the European scene and what do you think it would take to encourage their involvement?

Silver: Unfortunately, there are few CIS teams left. Russian community with its centre in rusmnb.ru were great and promising back in 2010-2012, but it's totally gone nowadays. Now there are a few teams with the same players who still play Warband. I hope we'll see stars of old times coming back in Bannerlord and also a lot of new players to become a part of the scene.


*MnBComp: Two of your players that really stood out in the last game were vSaDnik and Garret_tenb. How important is it for you to have key players playing well and what do you consider are the strengths of your aD side at the moment?

Silver: I want to say that every player who plays in a match is definitely a key player. I can't say that we could've won without effort of all of us. According to this I would say that the strength of aD is the whole its roster playing cohesively and willing to win.


*MnBComp: You will be facing Apis Europae in the Quarter Finals and despite your impressive return to Native and record so far in the tournament, you are, in the eyes of most, massive underdogs going into the match. How the lack of expectation affect motivation for your team and what is your attitude going into the match?

Silver: Yes, we are underdogs for this match and it's, without any doubt, deserved due to the AE's skills and previous performances. It's delightful to play against such a strong team in the knockout stage. I think that's a nice experience to be a part of such a match independently of the result, so it's okay for us. We'll try our best and I hope we'll surprise AE and viewers!

** CIS: The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organisation whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union.
~***~​

More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.
 
Missed posting some of the others though obviously you can see them when they go up on Facebook by liking the group.- I am going to add them now because CL's pictures are great



  Tonight’s  #WarbandECS match is Castellans vs Defenders of Faith. We asked DoF captain [anchor=ErminasECS2]Erminas[/anchor] for his views on the match and more:

*MnBComp:  Congratulations on beating Irish Rebels, that was a bit of a turn up for books, what is DoF doing now that they hadn’t been doing before?

*Erminas:  Thank you very much.
Yes, I agree that it was surprising result and not many could see it coming. About the match itself. We went into it with the plan and followed it through fairly well, so I am very satisfied with our performance. And when we won that 4th round (on Verloren while playing Vaegirs) where only 3 of us were against 8 IR players, we knew that it was our day and that, in the end of it, we would be victorious. I think that was the turning point of the whole match.
As for what are we doing better now than before, I would have to say that we finally have completed our line up. We have around 10 dedicated DoF members who know each other very well and have been playing together for years. To that core we just added two very nice guys and amazing players: Smiley and Violet.

*MnBComp:  Looking forward to your match with Castellans, do you expect your winning streak to continue? What kind of challenge you expect them to pose?

*Erminas:  When the Groups draw ended not many were giving us any chances at all, but after last week's upset anything is possible now. Obviously our ambitions are rising now, but I will try my best to keep us on the ground.
Castellans are great team full of experienced players and they are, without a doubt, big favorites in our match.

*MnBComp:  The new ban/pick system in the ECS has left you playing the same maps as last week. What sort of an advantage does this give you and why are you so fond of Field by the River?

*Erminas:  Yep, it's quite interesting that we will play same maps again. Some of our guys are actually grumbling a bit because it seems we always end up playing one and the same maps.
Field by the River? Great map, made into in my opinion perfect Open category map with latest update (MotF moved from behind Ruins to Field). We love open maps and we know how to play them. Probably one of the main reasons we are fond of the FbtR is because we have lot of good cavalry players.

*MnBComp:  How did you find the qualifying stage and what was it like to play in such a brutal system?

*Erminas:  I won't lie, when I saw NERD and WQ on our path to the main ECS Tourney it was quite demoralizing. Mostly because we signed up very late for the Qualifiers and at that time I still didn't know what players I will be able to rely on. However after few training scrims I realized that this could be our best tournament yet and qualifying seemed so much closer to me as each day passed.

*MnBComp:  Defenders of Faith have been a part of the Warband competitive scene for many years. How has the scene developed and what do you think of its current state.

*Erminas:  We are very proud that we stayed true to ourselves and that even after 5 years we still are just bunch of really good friends who like to spend their spare time together.
The Warband scene has really developed in recent years to the point that we are now participants of the sponsored tournaments that are very prestigious to play in.
I truly believe that European scene is on it's highest peak and future can only be better.

*Erminas:  Shout outs got to all DoF for being amazing bunch of guys and girl.
To Dante, the infantry player that never ceases to impress me. And also the guy who took this picture :p
All our friends, especially Wolfpack clan :wink:
~***~​
  More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.
     



  Malta and Irish Rebels will give us our first view of the new map Silk Road. Competitive Mount and Blade spared no expense to bring you this interview from [anchor=IRDragzECS2]IR Dragz[/anchor]…

*MnBComp:  Silk Road has been the most banned map in the pool so far this tournament and we are seeing it played for the first time in your match. What gave you the confidence to pick it?

*Dragz:  When the new map pool was announced we checked out all those new maps and played them in training matches. We found Silk Road to be very enjoyable and fitting
to our play style. Furthermore the IR reference added by our special friend VivarPL gave it a personal touch that very much appealed to us.
In addition to that we experienced in previous matches that Malta's strength is closed maps so we picked an open one.

*MnBComp:  Your roster contains a number of players associated with the team known as Saracens, who left the union with the Polish Eagles. Why did you decide to take in so many players at once and how has it been playing together?

*Dragz:  We were contacted by SRCs a few weeks ago and they proposed to join forces with us. Both SRC and IR were having trouble gathering enough people for training matches between NC
and ECS so we gladly accepted. I dont know what was or is going on between SRC and PE, if you want to know why the union between them broke up you should ask someone else.
The reason why they decided to ask us though is pretty clear: We have been playing together with SRC before (especially CarpeDiem and Sebek who were in IR for quite a while).
Playing with them once again works just fine which is not surprising considering our shared past in Warband tournaments.

*MnBComp:  Your loss to Defenders of Faith last week was the only case of a team which came through the qualifiers beating an invitee. How do you feel about the match and is there anything you have been able to take away from it?

*Dragz:  First of all, we were really surprised on how well DoF performed. The last time we played them (as a part of PaD back then) was in WWC. They have improved A LOT since then.
However, this is only one half of the story. We performed very poorly in this match, from tactics and team play to individual performance. As with every defeat there are two ways you can handle
them: You either get down because you lost and give up OR you learn from your mistakes, leave the past behind you and carry on playing.
We decided to take the second choice.

*MnBComp:  This week, you face Knights of Malta in the Losers Match and while your team is officially international, this is something of a German derby for a lot of your players. Do you see it that way and what are your expectations for the clash?

*Dragz:  Allthough IR is no longer considered a German team there are still some ongoing rivalries between us and other German teams. From this point of view, yes it is always a bit special for us to fight German
teams. However we do not see it as a derby but as a match that we must and will win. Mostly because ECS is over for us if we don't.

*MnBComp:  The ban/pick system for maps has been a big addition for the ECS. How do you feel the system has treated your team so far and what is your opinion of it overall?

*Dragz:  While I do like the possibility to pick maps, it makes training for the actual match a lot harder since you cannott expect any team to agree on two maps of your choice that are not played by them.
This results in trainings with one map of each team being played which is not every efficient for either of them. Other than that its a great opportunity to see which maps are liked by the competitive community and which are not.
That of course does not mean that maps which are constantly banned are not liked because there is also that strategic aspect of picking and banning maps that suit or do not suit some teams.

Shoutouts to everyone in IR and everyone involved in and around the ECS.
~***~​
  More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.
   
 


  Before the Legend and Irish Rebels match,  [anchor=LegendCaiusECS2]Legend Caius[/anchor] talked to MnBComp about the tournament and what is next for Legend…

*MnBComp: Without entering into the details of the case, your match against WeDontYou resulted in a default win. How has being connected to a drama like that affected the team and how are you and the players coping with it?

*MnBComp: Without entering into the details of the case, your match against WeDontYou resulted in a default win. How has being connected to a drama like that affected the team and how are you and the players coping with it?

*Caius:  Personally I don’t think it affected any of our players. WeDontYou are all amazing players and the fact is we wouldn’t have won in any case if we had to play another match against them. But after all this is how it works, if the admins ask us to play a second time and that WeDontYou can’t bring enough players.

*MnBComp: Legend have been a staple of the top 10 teams in the scene for a long time now, after first catching major attention during the WNL Season 2, with your massive 8 match unbeaten run. How has it been developing the team since then and how close do believe Legend are to the top level of teams?

*Caius:  Well, I’ve been in Legend for now 3 years, we were all French speaking players from different clans and we decided to bring up something more competitive. It is true that we were really good during the WNL Season 2, but since then we lost a lot of French players and we had to recruit a lot of people from all around the world. We have great times and we really enjoyed it. But the thing is, it’s really hard to play with players who sometimes don’t even use their microphone or don’t even speak English, it is pretty hard to communicate, to put up together and to deal with really big teams like AE, WeDontYou, SOE… who are all full of amazing players. One week ago, Kellermann, Paulo and I decided to talk about the situation in Legend.

We really enjoyed playing with Legend, that’s where I really began to play competitive, but the match against IR will maybe be our last. I think people shouldn’t forget that we’ve been on the scene for 3 years, and that with a lot of difficulties we managed to stay on the scene. But this time it’s going to be over, something else is coming, something that could probably deal with the best teams of Warband. We are preparing something huge, I won’t tell you a lot more about this, but it’s going to be massive.

*MnBComp: Your crushing Week 1 win against Foolocracy of Fedner was perhaps a bigger result than many were expecting, considering the experience in that team. How were you able to take such a comfortable win?

*Caius:  We have strong individual players like Paulo and Tigerwhite who made a lot of work during the match and who can, on their own, make the difference. All our players made a great job this time, I think that’s the reason why we won. When people think legend is going to lose a match, Paulo really wants to prove the opposite, we trained a lot for this match, we were ready, we proved it, even though Foolocracy of Fedner were pretty strong enemies.

*MnBComp: You seem to have shown a preference for taking maps on the more closed end of the spectrum, so far in the tournament. What is your thinking behind that approach and how is the new ban/pick map system working out for you?

*Caius:  We choose more closed maps mostly because we don’t have really strong cavalry, but we have many great shooters and our infantry is doing the work. We often fail to play on open map because we don’t have, as I said, players who handle those maps, we don’t have really good cavalry and we easily get crushed by teams with players like Shingen, Trebron, Peter,… because they are gods on horses.

About the new system, we think it’s quite a good system, you really need to think about what you choose, which map you’ll ban, you need to know your opponent, what he prefers, what’s his weakness, even before the fight. This brings another strategic dimension to Warband competitive. Well, it’s really good.

*MnBComp: Irish Rebels, along with Alliance of Destruction, make up the two teams which came back from the Losers Match to come out of their group in second place. What is your opinion of IR's current form and how do foresee the match unfolding?

*Caius:  We always considered Irish Rebels as fantastic players, especially Superlili, Sebek, CarpeDiem who made almost 20 kills on his last match, which is impressive, Hopkiin also, Sphere, Sarracens players in general… I might have forgot some of them, but yes, it’s a really tough team. We respect Irish Rebels and we are really happy to play which will might be our last match with Legend against them. And let’s be honest, one of the most intense match I played on Warband was against Irish Rebels, during the last WNL, I’m pretty sure some of you might remember. It was really tense, it was amazing, they lost, and I’m pretty sure they’ll do their best to take their revenge, and I wish them the best.
~***~​
  More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.
   
 
Hope you didn't miss this one - Yami of the shiny sword!


Tonight we present you with one of the most exciting and promising matches we have seen so far in ECS! WeDontYou vs Castellan, both considered to be top four teams, meet in quarter finals!
Although WeDontYou can be seen as favourites, Castellan is a promising underdog, certainly capable of causing an upset!

MnBComp talked to Yami , co-leader of Castellans, about their tournament so far and the upcoming match:

*MnBComp: Among the teams who finished first in their groups, your progression features the closest scores. How closely do you think the scores reflect the reality of those matches and what has your team taken away from the group stage?

Yami: I feel like we won both of our matches quite comfortably, although the final scores don't necessarily show it. Since the round difference in ECS doesn't count, it's easy for the team atmosphere to change quickly from very focused to relaxed once we have won. Often at that point people start playing different classes, OGL going for the interview and letting someone else command etc. If you take a look at the decision points of both matches, we were winning 9-2 against Malta and secured an 8-2 draw against DoF, then perhaps relaxed a bit too early on FbtR which led to a 9-5 score. Realistically, it feels like our opponents didn’t really force us to push ourselves to our limits - regardless, we approached all our matches seriously and will do the same going forward.

I think the main thing we learned so far is to approach our fights with more confidence - we lost a few rounds due to hesitation, but when we just went for it all together, it usually worked out great.

*MnBComp: Every single match in Group C was broadcast on MB_tv. In what ways does the extra exposure of yourselves and your opponents affect your mentality and approach to matches?

Yami: Personally, I always find the stream adds a bit more pressure for the match, but also makes it more exciting and motivating to do well. Once the match has started tho, everyone is really focused on playing, so I think we mostly forget about people watching and just play our game. I feel like the pressure in tournaments is significantly less of an issue this time around, compared to past WNL, since we aren't new to playing competitive matches together anymore and getting streamed is somewhat of a regular occurrence. We have already proven to ourselves that we can do well, so I think everyone is just feeling more confident and focused. If anything, the streams let us go over our mistakes and improve on things we should've done better. At least OGL seems to have so much fun making tryhard analytical posts on the forum after matches and linking 10 different times in the stream to support his points.

*MnBComp: Your fellow team leader OGL has stated multiple times that he believes The Castellans are still trailing behind Freelancers, WeDontYou and Apis Europae. How are you going about closing that gap and do you think it is a realistic goal for the near future?

Yami: The other top seeded teams have a wealth of player experience and skill to draw on, whereas for the most part we are relatively new to the top level. Although this puts us at a disadvantage, it also shows our determination that we're still competing despite this.

We have training matches most days of the week, and aim to have as many as possible against the tougher teams especially. We also have regular internal trainings - for example, our cav have one day a week when they get together and work on improving their communication and coordination. I believe team-wise, we're doing everything we can to improve our level of play, though I think that in order to compete on the top level it is also down to each player individually to work on their own improvement, in their free time. That said, we do have many great players, and most of them are really motivated and working hard, so that will hopefully show.

*MnBComp: Casting the PP15 match between Polish Eagles and Drunken Ravens on Saturday, your team-mate Arthasan indicated that there are some internal issues present with The Castellans currently. Do you have any comments to make regarding this subject?

Yami: We did run into some internal struggles during this tournament. Not everyone is getting on, and the atmosphere got fairly tense a few times. I don't really want to go into details but we did have a few people leaving as a result (Watly, Corey, Fred). There are always going to be disagreements between members in clans, it's almost unavoidable. What matters is how people resolve it and continue to focus on a shared goal and, while the arguments have obviously had a negative impact on our morale and performance, I feel like we mostly managed to achieve this.

*MnBComp: Taking a general view of the scene, it seems one recent trend is an increase in group-fighting melee tournaments. It has been speculated that this is raising the level of infantry play in the scene as a whole. Do you share in that opinion and referring specifically to classes, what is your opinion of the current level of play across the board?

Yami: Yes, I think the recent trend of playing a lot of 2v2s and 3v3s has definitely helped increase the level of infantry play for the people involved, and that includes most good inf players these days, even some archers and cav. It's something I have personally found very helpful, as it does put players on the spot a lot more and forces them to concentrate on the actual melee, as well as requiring good teamwork - something that is not always necessary to do well on IG_BG, for example, which has been the main training ground for players so far. So, in a way, I believe it has helped to fill a bit of a gap that a lot of people felt was present in their infantry training. We have also adopted it as a warm-up routine before matches in Castellans and it seems to be working out really well.

Regarding the current state of the scene, I feel that there's a very high level of play, both individually and amongst teams. Although the scene is perhaps not as saturated with exceptional players and strong teams compared to earlier years, the ones that are around seem to be playing better than ever. With regard to classes, it seems that archers perhaps have improved the most, while the infantry play seemed somewhat stale until recently with a few exceptions, but that seems to be changing nowadays as mentioned above. Also, most teams seem to be struggling with having enough good cavalry players, though that might be connected to recent increase in cav requirements, due to the new 5-6 cav meta.

*MnBComp: As a result of a default win, your opponent for the Quarter Finals is WeDontYou, a team that was predicted to make it through in first place. Without going into details about that incident, how are you preparing for the earlier-than-planned challenge of WeDontYou and what are your expectations for the match

Yami: We were certainly hoping that our opponent in the quarterfinals would have been Legend or Heroes, and it was a great shame to see that WeDontYou couldn't manage to find 8 players vs a team they had beaten so decisively, especially considering how active their players usually are. We entered this tournament with a goal of making the top three places though, so we knew we would have to face one of the toughest teams sooner or later. Although it's perhaps a bit unfortunate that we face the threat of dropping out this soon, it doesn't change so much for us overall, so we're just doing our best as usual and expecting a close match.
~***~​
More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.
 
Today we have teh view from Trebron...

'Life was a process of finding out how far you could go, and you could probably go too far in finding out how far you could go.' Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett



Tonight both Semi Finals of #WarbandECS will be a clash of giants and the Apis Europae Vs WhyDontYou match, a clash of egos so large they would survive the Total Perspective Vortex. Watch the match with Captain Lust and Aeronwen on MB_tv.

MnBComp asked WeDontYou (Zaphhod) Trebron about the tournament so far and WeDontYou’s attitude to the match tonight…

*MnBComp:Congratulations on taking down The Castellans in the Quarter Finals. They are a team on rise but you proved your strength with a comfortable win there!
Referring to that match specifically, in spite of the score line, there were a number of rounds that went very close but you always seemed to come out on top. What is it about WeDontYou that enables you to perform under pressure?

Trebron:Thanks
Some rounds in this match were close but there was no pressure when we played against Castellan. With all respect for them - they don't have the mentality of winners and there's some kind of inferiority complex amongst their players. It's typical for new clans but The Castellan is going to be 1 year old soon, I think this clan didn't reach its full potential because of internal problems. Talking with some Castellans about their clan reminds me of The Bold and The Beautiful soap opera xD It's not a banter or "shots fired" stuff, I’m just honest.
We expected a 16:0 win... yet some fails, overly relaxed attitude and early deaths led us to loosing 2 rounds at FbtR.
So what enables us to perform under pressure against proper teams? It's the fact that there is no pressure at all (maybe except a little bit of "healthy" pressure), no matter who are we playing against. I do believe that mental approach is the 2nd most important thing just after personal skill. If you get too excited or scared during the match - you're gonna make bad decisions and lose.

*MnBComp: During the group stage, WeDontYou were caught up in some drama after it was revealed that one of your leaders was using pink projectiles. How has the team coped with that, both in terms of the tournament and in how it has affected your perception in the community?

Trebron:Sota is an idiot and he got what he deserved. Even I knew about the rules that say what happens if some player is caught cheating, and I’m just a player, not the captain, the one that signed up our team. The most funny thing is that he posted these screenshots himself. But that’s also a solid excuse, if he really wanted to abuse the rules and use pink javs for some big advantage... he'd be aware of this and he would never post screens with such evidence. Therefore I think admin's decision of perma banning Sota was too harsh. One/two match suspension and forcing him to take screenshots of every spawn in every match he plays in the future to make sure he's not cheating anymore could have been a better way to solve the problem.
We're lucky to have Rayden - he took over the clan, a really good caller. He gets too serious sometimes, it's not a big problem tho - only 2 weeks to go.

*MnBComp: It has been speculated that you simply have the best cavalry and archers in the scene right now, with your infantry hardly far behind. How do you rank the teams remaining in the tournament and for what reasons?

Trebron:Yes we do have the best cavs and archers in this game, no doubt (#modesty), infantry ain't bad too.
How do I rank the clans? My top 4 is gonna be: WeDontYou, AE, Freelancers and IR. With the addition of some SRC players IR is much more consistent than Castellans. I believe IR's loss against DoF was just a single blooper. CarpeDiem has the will and confidence to fight with top teams, the thing I’ve said before Castellan lacks.

*MnBComp: WeDontYou are seen by some as something of a troll clan. How do you react to that and what do you have to say about your team's attitude to the game?

Trebron:I don't think some troll clan would be able to win the WNL3 smile emoticon We've considered ourselves the best since the beginning of ECS1, and it's probably the best attitude for any team that wants to win. Our egos are in the size of the whole universe.

*MnBComp: On Sunday, you'll be facing off against Apis Europae. Beyond progressing in the tournament, what does this match mean to your team and how do you expect the match to unfold?

Trebron:There is some rivalry between our clans and we want to win this match. I'm sure we'll take at least 10:6 win. If AE wins we're gonna say they got lucky and prepare better for any possible rematch in the future.
~***~​
More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.


and from [anchor=MenethilECS2]Menethil[/anchor]

"The spider dances her web without knowing that there are flies who will get caught in it. The fly, dancing nonchalantly on a sunbeam, gets caught in the net without knowing what lies in store. But through both of them "It" dances, and inside and outside are united in this dance. So, too, the archer hits the target without having aimed - more I cannot say." Zen in the art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel


Tonight both Semi Finals of #WarbandECS will be a clash of giants and the Freelancers Vs IR match is anyones call. Watch the match with Captain Lust on MB_tv

Let us know on Twitter or in the comments how you feel about this match and the interview!
@CaptainLust
@MnBcomp
We had an interview Menethil, who plays for Freelancers. Known as one of the best and one of the most respected, he presented us with some interesting answers!…

*MnBComp: Congratulations on your whitewash win against once-giants Guard of Istiniar.
Of all the teams in the tournament, you simply look the most unstoppable, dropping only one round up until this point. How have you been able to dominate so decisively thus far?

*Menethil: Thank you :smile:
Well, we are a strong team and we trained hard for every match. When we guarantee the match, we stay focus and played our best game.

*MnBComp: A lot has been said about your partnership with Tırtıl, with many calling you the best ranged-duo in the scene. Do you agree and what kind of difference does it make, playing together with a player like that for so long?

*Menethil: Me and Tirtil are playing together almost 3 years. I don't know we are the best or not but we used to play each other and we know what we can able to do. I think Tirtil is better shooter than me and I'm better in melee fights. We complete each other.
Playing together with Tirtil is making matches easier. I hope we will play together more years grin emoticon

*MnBComp: In interviews, you have consistently stated that to be the best, it just takes a whole load of practice. Do you really believe that and could you elaborate on how much, as well as what kind, of practice you put into the game?

*Menethil: I'm playing a lot in IG Battlegrounds. I'm not doing something special. Sometimes infantry fights like 3v3 thats all tongue emoticon

*MnBComp: In your opinion, what are the best players and strengths of the remaining teams in the tournament?

*Menethil: Hmm, I think in AE, Leroux is the most scary shooter now. M and Cleric dominating as melee though.
WeDontYou has sick archer Rayden and Bendetto, these guys are headshooters. Otto and Trebron are playing very good now.
IR has Sebek as beast infantry. Attila and Virus are awesome archers. Carpediem plays very good cavalary on open maps.

*MnBComp: Tonight, you face off against the Irish Rebels, a team that went through a shaky start but pulled together and have gone from strength to strength. Do you expect to lose your second round of the tournament tonight? How do you think the match is likely to go in general?

*Menethil: Of course yes. They are very good team. It wont be easy but if we can play our game tonight it won't be hard too. Match will be stressful, but we are all experienced players. We can get through this. I think we are going to beat IR tonight. Best of luck to them.
~***~​
More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.
 
On the brink of teh final of the ECS... Napoleon's interview!

"He can create a new army, but his army cannot create a new Napoleon"


This Sunday, the #WarbandECS comes to an end! Who will take it? The seemingly unbeatable Freelancers? Or the legendary Apis Europae?

We caught up with the leader of Freelancers: “My name will be the war cry” Napoleon, and asked him for his expectations on the upcoming finals, and how he thinks his team will do, you can find the interview below.

Don't forget that MB_tv will stream this Final on Sunday 19:00 BST! Be sure to check them out and follow them! Make sure you don't miss it!
https://youtu.be/rNDVPxOCpKM?list=PLLZ-NYue6_uwrX7AoRdhsGnzRuIaCJI2l

*MnBComp:Congratulations on your Semi Final win against Irish Rebels
You took the Semi Final with only one round lost and won it on a round draw, making your rounds lost in the entire tournament only two. Do you think you can maintain this amazing record through the final?

*Napoleon: There was huge level differences between us and the teams we faced until now. Results we got shows it exactly. From the beginning all say the same there were 3 teams can compete each other for the victory. We will face one of them in the finals and they came to the finals by beating the other favourite. Obviously it will be tough but anyway we will do our best to beat them.

*MnBComp:Freelancers is a newly formed team, how do you get players to cohere into such a steamroller team in such a short time? In particular how do your Russian players fit into the team and how is the communication working out?

*Napoleon: Main part of the team is SoE members, which we have been playing like for at least 3 years (5 with Menethil) together.We had some additions from players who won't take part in ECS2 with their team like Grenade, Vivar or players who weren't part of any clan Rempica, Achto, Sifon, Shingen. No doubt how skilled those players are .If you ask me how i got those players, was pretty easy. I let them know i was going to form a team for this ECS and just asked them if they want to join. All of our players are capable of speaking English so we have no problem about communication

*MnBComp:You have gained a brilliant reputation as a commander, but have said you may want to relinquish that role. How have you felt taking on that role and do you think about the other commanders in the scene, specifically their strengths and weaknesses?

*Napoleon: It is really nice to have responsibilities but also it is tiring stuff to do. It's pretty different than real sports in the term of commanding. Like in football managers are not the saddest ones after a defeat nor the happiest one after a victory. But here you feel the emotions so hard if you are commander. I have been doing this stuff for 5 years so I had enough of it. For your second question, there were not many decent commanders in the past. I don't want to get in to details but we have a high amount of decent commanders in the scene right now.

*MnBComp:The map picks for this week are the same as the maps you played last week (most closed Sandi and most open FbtR), although the factions are different. Some question about preparation or how much difference factions make….Will you have new tactics for different opponents?

*Napoleon: For San'di'boush, there was Nords last week, they are known as snowball faction as well as Swadia. But this time there are Vaegirs and Swadia. So it is really important to get first round as Vaegirs to prevent Swadia's snowball. For Field By The River, there were Vaegirs and Sarranids last week, both are archer factions can be played with 3 rangers, but this time there are Nords and Rhodoks are not suitable for 3 rangers in my opinion.

*MnBComp:For the Final you are facing off against Apis Europae, a 3 year old team who have won many tournaments whilst your team, although encompassing experienced players, was formed only for this tournament. How do you prepare to fight a team with that much experience of winning and how do you expect the match to unfold?

*Napoleon: We have 3-4 scrims as usual. Working hard for it even though we have played those maps previous week. I will do my best as commander not let it be like NC15 Semi-Final vs BeNe.
~***~​
More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.

 
"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."

After yesterday's very interesting interview with Napoleon, leader of Freelancers, today we bring you another interview!

This time we sat down and talked with AE's (No power in the ‘verse can stop me) LeRoux, a top archer and key player for Apis Europae. He gave us some great answers and seems ready for the finals tomorrow! Check out the interview below.

Don't forget the Grand Final tomorrow at 19:00 BST! It will be streamed by MB_tv, you can find MB_tv right here: https://youtu.be/rNDVPxOCpKM?list=PLLZ-NYue6_uwrX7AoRdhsGnzRuIaCJI2l

*MnBComp: Congratulations on your Semi Final win against WeDontYou.
WeDontYou have said they only belatedly realised their map pick for the Semi Final, Naval Outpost, was so archer friendly. As WeDontYou also have magnificent archers, do you feel their map pick contributed to your victory and if so, how much?

*Le Roux:Thank you! It surely was one of the most exciting matches we've ever played, and the most exciting one this tournament. What a blast!
To be honest I do feel they made mistakes in the maps they banned and picked. However on this level of Warband, every team should be able of playing every map. I do think it contributed to our victory, but I feel the effect is overestimated. What made AE victorious is how we played the rounds. Calm, defensive, looking for opportunities, and ofcourse the early kills we got. Although the rounds might have different if we had played a different map, I still feel we would have won

*MnBComp: The map picking system has provided a new element for teams to have to think about for this tournament, AE are on record as saying it is best not to overthink the map bans and picks. What is your assessment of the bans and picks for this week?

*Le Roux:If you're in a system where you can ban and pick maps, there are two ways you approach it. Either you ban the maps you don't feel comfortable with and pick your best map completely disregarding the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent, relying on how you feel you best play the game. Or you take a look at your opponent and think what maps would either be equal or where you'd have a small advantage. With this second approach you have to keep in mind it's a lot more flexible. If you start overthinking it, you will end up picking maps where you think "Yeah, we're bad on that, but so are they." And that's something you never want to do.
For this week, I think the maps are quite equal for both teams.

*MnBComp: Some AE players have a higher skill based reputation than others. During your last match two players who in general perception may not have as bright a reputation performed extremely well. Do you agree with the general perception and how are players picked for participation in IG matches?

*Le Roux:I honestly don't know what the general perception of the skill levels in AE is. However I think everyone in AE is a good player, otherwise they wouldn't be in AE. All of us have the ability to play brilliant. And that's one of the reasons we are so strong, our players are explosive, are capable of turning rounds when it's needed.
When we pick players obviously we want to play everyone, we play this game for fun, being benched isn't fun. However you have to keep in mind that we also want to win, so sometimes we prefer certain players when we felt they can perform better in the situation we think we will end up in. We're a close group of friends, we can openly talk about this, and so far this hasn't give us any issue at all. I don't really understand all the commotion surrounding #LetBlivPlay

*MnBComp: During the post match interview AE mentioned that the clan had seemed to be in decline and discussed disbanding until on the day of the match Bee related good omens abounded, how have the omens been during this week and how do you see the clan going forward?

*Le Roux:When you've been at the top as long as we have, it's only normal you have ups and downs. The really legendary teams will manage to overcome their issues and keep going. I think we've done that before, and we'll have to do it again. Talking about AE after this ECS is really AE business, you'll hear soon enough if anything big happens
We've had a couple of omens this week, so I'm sure the beegods (if there is such a thing) are with us!

*MnBComp: For the Final you are facing off against Freelancers, a team formed for this tournament, who have lost only 2 rounds and had one drawn round through the whole of the tournament so far. How do you prepare to fight a team with so few losses and how do you expect the match to unfold?

*Le Roux:How do we prepare for a team with so few losses. You've got that wrong, we are AE, we are the dominant force ruling the Warband universe. Even when we are slacking or seem to be play bad, we can always come back and destroy our opponent. We're not afraid of Freelancers, they should fear us.
The match will be tense, the first rounds will be very important. I do think we will take it quite comfortably, after beating WeDontYou it seems this ECS is ours. Since we didn't win the previous ECS, it seems only right that we claim this one.
~***~​

More info on the European Championship Series here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.



 
Pretty sure that is not a scientifically accepted fact. Always thought it was a nonsense statement based on some absolute goon's half realisation that you couldn't make a plane with that size/weight/wingspan ratio but not considering the completely different kind of flight that insects and animals in general use.
 
Captain Lust said:
Pretty sure that is not a scientifically accepted fact. Always thought it was a nonsense statement based on some absolute goon's half realisation that you couldn't make a plane with that size/weight/wingspan ratio but not considering the completely different kind of flight that insects and animals in general use.

Well the quote comes from when The Bumble Bee Paradox was thing, it's only been solved this century as far as I know.  It's still a neat quote though, the point being one of defying expectations.
 
The interview with Renegades much loved leader was conducted before the first match of the WNL where a rusty RNGD lost to a solid DoF team. 

"le Brave des Braves"





For the first interview of the #WNL5 we bring you a ghost from Warbands past, everybody’s favourite Frenchman, leader of the resurgent Renegades, Nubijuki…

*MnBComp:  The community was excited in early September to see your much loved clan, Renegades, reunite after a hiatus of more than a year. However, initially you did not intend to join this year’s WNL and seemed to change your minds only at the last minute. Why were a resurgent Renegades going to give the WNL5 a miss and what made you change your minds?

*Nubijuki:  Warband is a game I love. As for most of the things I appreciate, I like to make them right. I didn't want to join WNL5 because we didn't have the roster to do as good as we would like to. Nevertheless, there was still a part of me that wanted to come back to the game. And, there was all this news about Bannerlord which made people think it might be the last big tournament before we could finally play this game we have been waiting for so long. So yes, in the very last minutes, I let some of my team mates who were quite excited about it to persuade me to join WNL5.

*MnBComp:  Many of your players have spent the wilderness years playing in other teams but some have been inactive. Who would you say were key players for RNGD at the moment, what do you consider are the strengths of the RNGD team at the moment?

*Nubijuki:  Back in the day, RNGD had good players, but never was an all-star team. Our strength was to count on our team play before our individual skill and this is what we are going to do again. Today, we are missing some of our old members like Asgeir, Warrior and Thibault. TornadoX and Guy who joined us are quite inactive due to personal matters. Sikici and Neathar decided to be part of different teams for this league. Despite all this, RNGDs are still a team of friends who like to play alltogether with a good spirit and I think this is going to be our main strength here.

*MnBComp:  RNGD’s legacy as having ‘lavishly talented players’ and creative tactics is still fresh in the minds of those fortunate enough to have watched you play in the past. How does that expectation affect motivation for your team and what is your attitude going into the match?

*Nubijuki:  The team is going to rely on new members and I think they are proud to use the tag. I'm thinking of people like Piccolo, Tardet and Thalia who were quite active in the community recently. We are quite a new roster and we have a lot to do if we want to get back in shape. Nevertheless, we are motivated to do as good as we can for our next matches. This WNL5 has very good teams like AE, Ex, Freelancers, Castellans and IR and I do not expect to be part of the top 5 teams but I think we can aim for the top 10 if we keep our actual attitude.

*MnBComp:  Your first official match in the WNL will be against DoF, one of the oldest Warband clans. How do you expect the match to go and why?

*Nubijuki:  DoF is a clan we play just a very few times in the past. I don't know them very well but I know they are good people. Despite they are one of the oldest clan, they are still very active in the community. Erminas is well known for hosting Warband Weekend Cups and the WMT. I'm glad we play our first match with them. I think this is going to be an interesting one.

*MnBComp:  Since you last played as RNGD the competitive matches have changed, with a shorter round time and the flag spawn changes for example. Do you feel the changes have improved the game? Are there any other changes you would like to see?

*Nubijuki:  I was glad to hear the round time is shorter. I have always been thinking round time was too long to make matches as intense as they should be. Most of the time, people are just waiting for the flags because of the lack of interest to do otherwise. And I think it still can be reduced considering to the flag rules. I have not been playing enough to say if what was done to flag spawn has improved the game, but I think that it is good that flags can't spawn twice in the same place.

Lately, I've been thinking that there are some changes I would like to see. I can see two things that could be discussed about:

Firstly, I think it could be a good thing to see infantry improved by giving them the ability of raising the flag faster than any other class. Actually, I feel like infantry are not as useful as cavs and shooters on open maps and I was thinking that it might encourage teams to use more infantry than they actually do when playing on open maps. I know this is possible and it won't be a big change in the game.

Secondly, I was wondering if it was possible to make flag spawn influenced. I think it's a shame to see flag spawning depends on chance. So, if teams were able to make the flag spawn where they want to (probably on their side of the map), depending on what area they are controlling then it would encourage them to take control of some specific area instead of just waiting for a flag they don't know where it is going to spawn. It would make things more interesting during the time we are waiting for the flag to spawn because teams would be contesting these area to make sure the flag is going to be where they prefer it to spawn. Also, we would be able to see different tactics for teams, depending on their strategic choice: influencing the flag or just rushing the opposite team counting on the fact they are going to split up to control these areas influencing the flag and crush one of the isolated groups.

I know this one is quite huge change and I don't know if it's even possible but I think it is worth it to think about for what's coming next.
~***~​

More info on the Warband Native League here  MnBComp on Twitter
Staff: Aeronwen, captainlust, Le Roux.
 
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