Match Previews

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Match Previews


This topic aims to create a little bit of hype by offering previews of the different WMT matchs, an inniative which had been appreciated during the last Nation Cups, and eventually, contribued to make the tournament even more interesting than it already was.

Anyone is free to use this topic to post its own previews, you absolutly don't need to contact me. Either you can post it here, or make your own thread, but I've always been thinking having one topic to centralize everything is better then six or seven different topics. Whatever, I just ask you to always remain respecteful and make you preview as serious as possible to avoid drama and this so loved "banter" of ours. If you want your preview to be added to the main post, just drop me a PM and credits will be of course given to you.

As a final note, and as Shema once pointed it out, previews are nothing extremly special, and you won't learn new stuff if you're confirmed player of our community by reading it. However, each tournaments there are new players willing to learn more from the scene, and those previews are also and mainly aimed to provide those new players all the informations they need about a match. It creates a bit of hype and there can never be enough of it.

Have a good read.
 
Week 2 : Closed Maps Mastery


Match Preview: Fearless vs. Irish Rebels


The Warband Master Tour is heading towards the second week matches and today we are taking a look to what looks like one if not the most interesting match-up of this weekend, seeing Irish Rebels, the unlucky finalist of the previous edition, facing the last ECL champion, Fearless.


Team Information
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Fearless is the last warband reigning champion, timewise speaking. Of course, winning the ECL isn't quite the same accomplishement as winning the ECS like Freelancers did, a month before them, yet it still is one and one Garde & friends can be happy about. Due to this, they're probably coming into the WMT with some confidence even though the teams standard for this tournament are certainly higher than it was for the last ECL. This said, the boys didn't fail their start in the tournament beating Aequalitas on a relatively close scoreline.

Their roster almost didn't change since their final against Rising Rival. Last additions to the team are Maximou, Kane, Rapez, Bendetto and Smiley, five players who can potentially bring a lot of strenght to an already quite decent roster, and able to switch between archer and infantry for most of them. Players to keep en eye on for this match from the old Fearless roster are Pusiak and Garde who can be really dangerous as cavalry and Ascarion and Bullsara (also leading) for the infantry will certainly also make a difference if needed. Personally, I also expect Dest to make an important part of the work as a support/spearman, especially considering the maps played this week limit cavalry movements heavily.
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Among the teams which have always flirted with the elit tier of Warband, Irish Rebels is certainly the most famous one. Runner-up of the previous WMT, runner-up aswell in the WNL5, third place in the ECS2, it looks like they always showed some really strong and regular performance while always lacking the little touch which makes team winning tournaments. Once again, lead by Dragz and Boris, the Rebels are looking for their very first gold medal and once again, their roster looks quite scary.

Their main infantry core recently suffered Brian and Thorr's departure, just before the tournament starts however, they can rely on Oliveran to lead the way, alongside deadly players such as Sebek, SuperLilli or more recently, Gibby. As per usual, they will need Hopkin to carry their cavalry departement, but Viktor and especially Watly will also have a huge role to play, and Fearless will be quite an interesting test to see how good they're perfoming. But the real strengh of IR resides in their rangers. Toi, Virus, Attila, names which are no longer needed to present, with eventually some decent reserve in the person of Blade, and Sphere if he shows up.
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Maps


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The WMT has this particularity to bring a large choice of new maps aswell as a few old ones. This week, which is part of the closed map mastery will see a reworked Nord Town, edited by Azan, being played as the opening scenery. Options on Nord Town are rather limited, even on the edited version. If the rangers no longer have the upper roof on both spawns, they still got two other spots that can be deadly when well used. As on any close map, infantry are gonna be key but they can't be the only factor both team rely on to win the match, and if Rhodoks are known to have a stronger infantry than Swadia, many people might argue that Swadia is still way more balanced and at its advantage on such a map. As Fearless and IR aren't teams used to fight eachothers that often, I expect them to act rather carefuly at the begining, and that could be where IR's experience makes a little difference. It would be interesting for Fearless to get rounds as early as possible, to get the momentum on their side and start influencing IR's moral as much as possible.
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The second map is Desert Town, made by Taleworlds and edited by Erminas. It is also part of the new map brang in for this season and despite a few appearance, has hardly ever being played competitively recently. It will be interesting to see how well those two teams can adapt on such a relatively new map but a bad performance doesnt necesseraly mean everything as those maps won't be ever played again during the tournament.

This said, it could very well be the turning point of the match if none of the two teams managed to take a clear advantage from the first map. Desert Town is quite huge and rotation aren't that effective unlike some other maps. Either you decide to control the middle and expose yourself a little, or bet for one of the two close spawn flags, which is always a risky scenario. It is also quite easy to prevent cavalry from being over dominant by having someone dedicated to the spear and I will be probably trying to look out for what Dest is doing, knowing he is those kind of infantry nearly always playing as a support role. If he can prevent Hopkin and/or Watly to be effective, than Fearless definetly got a opportunity to challenge IR in a fair fight.

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Closing Notes

Overall, on the paper atleast, Irish Rebel looks like the favorite and if they focus and play calmy and without pressure, they should be able to get this quite convincingly. But .. there is no perfect scenario nor matchs won beforehand and many people expect Fearless to pull off an upset. A new challenge for them, certainly. But far from being an insurmountable one.

Week 3 & 4 : Mixed Maps Mastery


Match Preview: Ferocious Trident Wielders vs. Aequalitas


With the Closed Map Mastery of the Warband Master Tour being over, we're now entering the second stage, called the Mixed Map Mastery. Teams are gonna have to adapt their playstyle due to those new scenary and this new stage promess to bring lots of awesome moves and interesting results.

Team Information
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Ferocious Trident Wielders is part of those teams which sounded quite promising at the moment they got created. With a roster regrouping known players among more modest ones, and lead by Robin, the boys had an amazing run in every major they entered, ranking themselves at a surprising third place of the regular WNL5 season. (even though their loose against Wonwokies during the quarters was quite one sided), and making it out of the groups in the last ECS by beating the former champion, Freelancers. (and yet, loosing againt against Wonwokies in the quarters, in a way closer match this time).

Once again, FTW is coming back and once again, they're aiming to do even better than before. To do so, they can count on two of their rangers, Feanor and Matt. Matt is quite unknown on the scene but rumors say he has been looking after by top teams and could definetly surprises many. R and Ciiges were part of FTW main cavalry and Ciiges seemed to have quite an impact in their last match, but they left the team and it could definetly handicap the team a lot especially in a match where FTW would need al their best player. If Samu and Khefren show up, they could definetly help as two really experienced player, but to hold the line, Deztructor, HolyWarrioR, Mynes, Potatologic or Sabo will need to be on top of their form and rely on the teamplay which made them win important matches. 


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The last time we heard about Aequalitas, it was during the WNL5, where the team revealed itself to be one of the best surprise of the tournament. After loosing closely against Wolfpack during their opening match, they proved themselves to be capable of showing a lot of cohesion which certainly helped them beating The Expendables and almost qualifing for the playoffs. Not a lot of people would have planned them to get this 9th place, ahead many really good teams.

Compared to their WNL5 roster, ** has changed a bit but you can still a few faces which were here last time, such as Gaius and Unicorn for instance, the two captains, but also players like LaPache, Disturbed, Zulu or Varus. If those players are not really known for being superstars, they're playing together for quite a long time and have nothing to prove when it comes to teamplay. Ice as archer and Donut as cavalry can potentialy be extremly deadly and in order to bring even more skill to the party, ** will be able to count on new recruits such as Tallie, Rainbow or Sunny. Those three are capable of making the difference ** might need against team like FTW.

For now, Aequalitas is having a similar ride to the one they had in the last WNL. They lost closely to Fearless in their opening match but managed to lock the victory quite convincingly against Kattegat during the second week. In order to qualify for the second phase of the tournament, the playoffs, ** is gonna need a victory, even a close one, against FTW. Anything else will make the situation quite complex and they could regret it in the final run.
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Maps


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This week sees the return of a really old map that only a few veterans will know, Dreicskdorf. The maps has nothing really complicated, since it's pretty much the same aeras from one side to another, simply reversed. This said, it doesn't necesseraly means its an easy map to play on, because as any mixed one, it's gonna ask a lot of cohesion between the infantry and the cavalry and a lot of awareness from both. The long corridors to go from one flag point to another are certainly gonna be areas to contest but as I've never see the map being played that often, I expect both teams to surprise me and be as creative as possible. It's really hard to pick one winner from this map so it's more likely that we won't be able to see a clear winner after this map only. If it really is the case, then I simply don't see the team taking the advantage on this map, loosing on the second one.

Vaegirs and Nords are also an interesting match-up because if one could say Vaegir has the clear upper hand on this map, I've seen Nords being used extremly efficiently, using the infantry as a solid pack to challenge the flag areas. I'm definetly looking forward to see how ** and FTW are gonna use theirs.
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If Frosty Battle is a map which has been removed from the competitive map poll a while ago, it still has been played in more recent tournaments than Dreicskdorf and remains a controversial one with his enormous hills encouraging camping a lot.

Yet, both teams are gonna have to deal with it, and alteast Sarranids and Swadia are arguably not the worse factions to be played on Frosty Battle. I've never seen any of those teams performing on this map so I'm quite unaware of how good they can do but due to its size, it is expected that infantries have quite a low impact this time while rangers and cavalries are gonna be able to freely express all their talents.

During the first ECS, Renegades were crushed by KURWA on this very special map. And If I was any of the captains, I would take a look at the stream to see if any stuff could be re-used. You never know.

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Closing Notes

Ferocious Trident Wielders versus Aequalitas is definetly the closest match up of this week, with maybe Castellans vs Irish Rebels. For this reason and also because for both teams this match is extremly important, it's gonna be quite hard to pick up a clear winner. I would still go with FTW knowing they always made it to the playoffs somehow and if they wish to do so for this tournament aswell, a loose against ** is hardly acceptable. But I feel like ** has certainly something to say and it won't be a walk in the park for Robin and Coe.
Match Preview: Random Force vs. Irish Rebels


This weekend is gonna see a lot of interesting matchs being played in the fourth week of the Warband Master Tour. But one many people are probably going to keep an eye on Random Force lead by the talentous and known Rayden facing the brave warriors of Irish Rebels, commanded by Dragz and Boris.


Team Information
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Random Force is the latest surprise of this tournament, joining one week after the tournament started by using the particularity the WMT has to allow sign-ups midways. Lead by Rayden, Pendagron and Menethil, the team became a heavy favorite as soon as they appeared, by having one of the deadliest roster of the current scene, a team filled-up with renowned french speaking talents such as the famous duo Brian and Thorr, or their belgian stooge, Caius. Those three have played the few past tournament together under the Unity banner and will surely be a threat to any opponent facing them. But they won't be the only members of the team to combine skill and teamplay. Four of the best Freelancer players, Menethil, Shingen, Sifon and Bruce last tournament winners will be joining them in order to add another trophy to their hall of fame. And as if it wasn't enough, this time, some of the finest Knight Unicorns and Retarded Warriors Assassins will be fighting alongside them aswell.

Random Force played two matches only given they entered the tournament one week late. This is the only reason why they're currently ranked at the 9th place. Because if you look at both their matchs, they simply outclassed their two opponents. And this is honestly no big surprise. With Bruce, Doener, Pendagron, Sifon, Brian and Thorr, they got one of the most powerful infantry core of the whole tournament. Rayden, Menethil (someone also capable of being an extremly dangerous infantry), and Caius will be a threat anyone should consider carefuly and unless AE, it's a no match cavalry wise for any teams fighting them, with Relax, Trebron and Shingen.

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Irish Rebels are also a serious contender for the tittle, yet, they didn't have the same impact Random Force had on this tournament just yet. If you take aside the default win they got during the first week, both of their matchs were extremly close while IR had a clear advantage on paper. They were so close to loose versus Fearless that many people saw them being defeated in their next match-up, versus Castellans this time. Once again, IR managed to defy the odds but it once also once again too cloose for comfort.

If Dragz and his boys want to win versus Random Force, they're gonna have to show a lot more than what they did during the previous matchs. And that would start by having all their best players attending the match, in order to match Random Force's skill. Having their three archers, Virus, Attila and Blade would be definetly a good way to counter Menethil, Rayden and Caius. Gibby, Sebek, Oliveran and SuperLilli are also more than capable of opposing a good resistance to RF main infantries but the only real problem I see in IR's roster remains their cavalry. Yes, they recruited Fred and this is gonna be a positive force to bring into battle but ... when you're facing the talentous cavs RF got, you might want more than that. Watly and Hopkin are gonna have zero place for mistakes. One early death, one missed couch, could cost them the match at this point.

Tonight is gonna be the real test for IR to see if they have what it task to compete with tournament winners. One positive new is that this time, they really are the underdogs going into this match so it's safe to assume they will be playing with a bit less pressure than what you could feel in their previous matchs.

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Maps


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First match of tonight's show will be Prison Hill. Placed under the mixed map category, it remains one of the most open map and will surely be impacted a lot by cavalry movements. Random Force will be starting as Nords on the map, and Irish Rebels as Sarranids. As for the Nords set-up, they're known to be deadly from short to medium ranges with the javelins from the infantry. Many people even evoked the possibility to play without archers in certain occasion yet, given how RF archers can sometimes change a game, I would be highly surprised if they would play without atleast one. That's really up to their preferences but I've seen Brian and Thorr playing really decently as cavalry so RF could use them as such on this mixed-open map, counting on Bruce, Sifon, Pendagron and Doener to make the necessery work as infantry.

On their side, Sarranids are a somewhat balanced faction, but with really weak horses. I really hope Hopkin and Watly are gonna play defensive and wait for the real engagement to happen before getting into melee, because if one of them die too early, that could be the end of the round already. However, if IR can pick up some rounds really quickly, knowning how momentum is an important factor for this team, this could really help and If don't expect them to finish the first map on the lead, that might be the first needed step in order to get the final victory.
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Infantry might have more impact on Ruins Rebuilt because unlike the first map, it is more of a city scenery, with lots of buildings and huge aisles where cavalry will also definetly have their word to say. I will be interested to see how both teams are gonna engage on this map which was rarely played those last two years, and depending on the scorline, one of them might be tempted to push sooner than flags, due to nervosity or wish to widen the gap. On certain areas, cavalry can have a bit less of an impact so I would encourage IR to try fighting RF there, depending of course of how the infantry fights, if there was one, went on the previous map.

Irish Rebels will be starting as Rhodoks, which in my opinion is the better faction on this kind of map so even if they don't take the lead on the first map, as long as they are able to take enough rounds to make RF doubt of themselves, a perfect start on the second map is the only viable scenario where I could see them being able taking the victory. In case of the contrary happening, then even a 3-0 come back as they used to perfom on their two last matchs might not be enough, nor possible.

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Closing Notes

I want to believe in Irish Rebels, for many reasons, but the realistic scenario here is Random Force taking the victory. They are coming into this match with way more confidence than their opponents, and assembled the best players from the three best teams of the last major tournament. Irish Rebels got the passion that I often see other teams lacking but passion on its own doesn't make you win matches .... or does it? The anwser is tonight, at 7:30BST.
CASTELLANS VS POLISH EAGLES - MATCH PREVIEW



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Castellans are a veteran of numerous tournaments; despite having changed their roster over the years they have consistently put in high level performances. All of their players have more than enough experience to make them a fierce side to face, not to mention the individual prowess their members possess. With infantry such as Arni, Anchor and Eder they have an abundance of incredibly talented players in this class. These infantry will be backed up by Nomes, Dopey, KilleR and Hippotitis as cavalry. While Hippotitis is perhaps less experienced than the other big names on this roster, he proved in BRO that he was not to be underestimated. OGL, Yona, Sotamursu and Pepper will be relied upon to make crucial shots, something they have experience doing over their years of play.

Their roster itself is extremely versatile thanks to their abundance of talent in each class. Their infantry is perhaps their strongest front so it would not be surprising to see 3 or 4 inf on both Prison Hill and Ruins Rebuilt. They are by no means limited to this kind of strategy, as they have more than enough capable cavalry players should they choose to use these instead. Prison Hill especially has a number of excellent archer positions so it would be no surprise to see Castellans' archers doing a lot of work here.

Castellans possess the advantage in adaptability as well as having several players of the highest tier, they have already shown they are more than a match for teams such as Irish Rebels, to whom they narrowly lost due to Yona playing cav (c OGL). Their strong core and experienced players will make them difficult to overcome, especially on these mixed maps where they can use their roster to its full potential.
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Key Infantry
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Key Rangers
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Polish Eagles are another veteran team whose members have played together most recently in the Slavic Native League, in which they achieved second place. Most of their players are highly experienced and are used to playing together both in Warband and out of it. They recently had a clan meet-up in Poland which undoubtedly will have helped to boost their play together. Their most notable star player is PriNce, who is an absolute terror to face. Having almost single-handedly decimated FTW he has consistently put in very strong performances. LuckyBlasT has also performed well, making the PE archer duo a real threat to the opposing team. Their infantry, Warhammer, Blackhawk, Pon and Cramer will likely be playing a more passive role in these matches. They are experienced and know how to stay alive, which will be crucial on these mixed maps to allow Firunien, Woj, Colonel and Blue to put in the work they've proven they're capable of.

Their roster is likely to play a more fixed role, I would expect 3 cavalry and 3 infantry on both maps, although potentially 4 on Ruins Rebuilt. It would make sense for Warhammer and Blackhawk to play every set as they will be crucial in holding off players such as Arni and Eder. Woj and Firunien have also shown themselves to be a strong duo so will be relied upon to support the infantry in order to prevent them from being overwhelmed. Both maps favour rangers to a degree so it's likely PriNce and LuckyBlasT will be racking up high scores each set.

Polish Eagles have fantastic teamplay and a desire to win, two things which will make the match difficult for Castellans to win. Although they arguably have less "star" players they are by no means short of skilled players so it should be no surprise to see a close and exciting game.

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I predict a close game with a narrow win for Castellans, although PE definitely have the potential to take this game.



Thanks Tardet for inviting me to write this week.
AEQUALITAS  VS KAK VSEDGA - MATCH PREVIEW



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Aequalitas is a team which is formed from a German speaking background; they participated in the last WNL with many of the same players and also many new faces that have been added to their roster. Aequalitas started this tournament with a shaky start losing narrowly to Fearless but now have showed what they can do and hopefully will show more in this week 5 matchup.

Aequalitas has recruited some new players that will for sure boost team play and the ability to perform to a higher standard. Players that can help in this such as Rainbow, Habimama and Lapache. The Aequalitas team have a wide range of players that can perform to a very high standard. The infantry line-up of Motthe, Habimama, Zulu. Also a good archer line-up of Rainbow, Varus and Unicorn. They similarly have good cavalry like Disturbed, Ritter (Ice) and Gaius.


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Key Infantry
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Key Cavalry
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Kak vsegda is a newly formed Russian speaking clan which consists of players from Heroes and Inquisition so they have good chemistry, this clan is led by Grifon a well-known good commander and a good ranger. Kak vsegda joined the tournament in week 3 starting off with a 12 – 0 win vs CCC.

Kak vsegda is a team consisted of some well-known Russian and Eastern-European players which will give them good chemistry like how they can all speak more or less their own native language. Kak vsegda have a large range of quality players most notable players are Grifon, Max and Vernon. This teams line-up consists of infantry such as Korobas and Vernon, Rangers like noted above Grifon and Max. Kak vsegda also has strong cavalry such as Pink_Pony and more notably a new recruit Balestera’s leader Nexoner who is a good cavalry in my opinion and should fit nicely in there already great team.



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I predict a very close game, maybe the closest of this WMT2 yet. But overall I think that ** will win due to there superior cav.



I would like to thank Tardet for inviting me to write.

Week 5 : Open Maps Mastery

 
Match Preview: Fearless vs. Irish Rebels


The Warband Master Tour is heading towards the second week matches and today we are taking a look to what looks like one if not the most interesting match-up of this weekend, seeing Irish Rebels, the unlucky finalist of the previous edition, facing the last ECL champion, Fearless.


Team Information
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Fearless is the last warband reigning champion, timewise speaking. Of course, winning the ECL isn't quite the same accomplishement as winning the ECS like Freelancers did, a month before them, yet it still is one and one Garde & friends can be happy about. Due to this, they're probably coming into the WMT with some confidence even though the teams standard for this tournament are certainly higher than it was for the last ECL. This said, the boys didn't fail their start in the tournament beating Aequalitas on a relatively close scoreline.

Their roster almost didn't change since their final against Rising Rival. Last additions to the team are Maximou, Kane, Rapez, Bendetto and Smiley, five players who can potentially bring a lot of strenght to an already quite decent roster, and able to switch between archer and infantry for most of them. Players to keep en eye on for this match from the old Fearless roster are Pusiak and Garde who can be really dangerous as cavalry and Ascarion and Bullsara (also leading) for the infantry will certainly also make a difference if needed. Personally, I also expect Dest to make an important part of the work as a support/spearman, especially considering the maps played this week limit cavalry movements heavily.
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Among the teams which have always flirted with the elit tier of Warband, Irish Rebels is certainly the most famous one. Runner-up of the previous WMT, runner-up aswell in the WNL5, third place in the ECS2, it looks like they always showed some really strong and regular performance while always lacking the little touch which makes team winning tournaments. Once again, lead by Dragz and Boris, the Rebels are looking for their very first gold medal and once again, their roster looks quite scary.

Their main infantry core recently suffered Brian and Thorr's departure, just before the tournament starts however, they can rely on Oliveran to lead the way, alongside deadly players such as Sebek, SuperLilli or more recently, Gibby. As per usual, they will need Hopkin to carry their cavalry departement, but Viktor and especially Watly will also have a huge role to play, and Fearless will be quite an interesting test to see how good they're perfoming. But the real strengh of IR resides in their rangers. Toi, Virus, Attila, names which are no longer needed to present, with eventually some decent reserve in the person of Blade, and Sphere if he shows up.
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Maps


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The WMT has this particularity to bring a large choice of new maps aswell as a few old ones. This week, which is part of the closed map mastery will see a reworked Nord Town, edited by Azan, being played as the opening scenery. Options on Nord Town are rather limited, even on the edited version. If the rangers no longer have the upper roof on both spawns, they still got two other spots that can be deadly when well used. As on any close map, infantry are gonna be key but they can't be the only factor both team rely on to win the match, and if Rhodoks are known to have a stronger infantry than Swadia, many people might argue that Swadia is still way more balanced and at its advantage on such a map. As Fearless and IR aren't teams used to fight eachothers that often, I expect them to act rather carefuly at the begining, and that could be where IR's experience makes a little difference. It would be interesting for Fearless to get rounds as early as possible, to get the momentum on their side and start influencing IR's moral as much as possible.
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The second map is Desert Town, made by Taleworlds and edited by Erminas. It is also part of the new map brang in for this season and despite a few appearance, has hardly ever being played competitively recently. It will be interesting to see how well those two teams can adapt on such a relatively new map but a bad performance doesnt necesseraly mean everything as those maps won't be ever played again during the tournament.

This said, it could very well be the turning point of the match if none of the two teams managed to take a clear advantage from the first map. Desert Town is quite huge and rotation aren't that effective unlike some other maps. Either you decide to control the middle and expose yourself a little, or bet for one of the two close spawn flags, which is always a risky scenario. It is also quite easy to prevent cavalry from being over dominant by having someone dedicated to the spear and I will be probably trying to look out for what Dest is doing, knowing he is those kind of infantry nearly always playing as a support role. If he can prevent Hopkin and/or Watly to be effective, than Fearless definetly got a opportunity to challenge IR in a fair fight.

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Closing Notes

Overall, on the paper atleast, Irish Rebel looks like the favorite and if they focus and play calmy and without pressure, they should be able to get this quite convincingly. But .. there is no perfect scenario nor matchs won beforehand and many people expect Fearless to pull off an upset. A new challenge for them, certainly. But far from being an insurmountable one.
 
Match Preview: Ferocious Trident Wielders vs. Aequalitas


With the Closed Map Mastery of the Warband Master Tour being over, we're now entering the second stage, called the Mixed Map Mastery. Teams are gonna have to adapt their playstyle due to those new scenary and this new stage promess to bring lots of awesome moves and interesting results.

Team Information
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Ferocious Trident Wielders is part of those teams which sounded quite promising at the moment they got created. With a roster regrouping known players among more modest ones, and lead by Robin, the boys had an amazing run in every major they entered, ranking themselves at a surprising third place of the regular WNL5 season. (even though their loose against Wonwokies during the quarters was quite one sided), and making it out of the groups in the last ECS by beating the former champion, Freelancers. (and yet, loosing againt against Wonwokies in the quarters, in a way closer match this time).

Once again, FTW is coming back and once again, they're aiming to do even better than before. To do so, they can count on two of their rangers, Feanor and Matt. Matt is quite unknown on the scene but rumors say he has been looking after by top teams and could definetly surprises many. R and Ciiges were part of FTW main cavalry and Ciiges seemed to have quite an impact in their last match, but they left the team and it could definetly handicap the team a lot especially in a match where FTW would need al their best player. If Samu and Khefren show up, they could definetly help as two really experienced player, but to hold the line, Deztructor, HolyWarrioR, Mynes, Potatologic or Sabo will need to be on top of their form and rely on the teamplay which made them win important matches. 


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The last time we heard about Aequalitas, it was during the WNL5, where the team revealed itself to be one of the best surprise of the tournament. After loosing closely against Wolfpack during their opening match, they proved themselves to be capable of showing a lot of cohesion which certainly helped them beating The Expendables and almost qualifing for the playoffs. Not a lot of people would have planned them to get this 9th place, ahead many really good teams.

Compared to their WNL5 roster, ** has changed a bit but you can still a few faces which were here last time, such as Gaius and Unicorn for instance, the two captains, but also players like LaPache, Disturbed, Zulu or Varus. If those players are not really known for being superstars, they're playing together for quite a long time and have nothing to prove when it comes to teamplay. Motthe and Sunny as infantry can potentialy be extremly deadly and in order to bring even more skill to the party, ** will be able to count on new recruits such as Tallie or Rainbow. Those players are capable of making the difference ** might need against team like FTW.

For now, Aequalitas is having a similar ride to the one they had in the last WNL. They lost closely to Fearless in their opening match but managed to lock the victory quite convincingly against Kattegat during the second week. In order to qualify for the second phase of the tournament, the playoffs, ** is gonna need a victory, even a close one, against FTW. Anything else will make the situation quite complex and they could regret it in the final run.
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Maps


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This week sees the return of a really old map that only a few veterans will know, Dreicskdorf. The maps has nothing really complicated, since it's pretty much the same aeras from one side to another, simply reversed. This said, it doesn't necesseraly means its an easy map to play on, because as any mixed one, it's gonna ask a lot of cohesion between the infantry and the cavalry and a lot of awareness from both. The long corridors to go from one flag point to another are certainly gonna be areas to contest but as I've never see the map being played that often, I expect both teams to surprise me and be as creative as possible. It's really hard to pick one winner from this map so it's more likely that we won't be able to see a clear winner after this map only. If it really is the case, then I simply don't see the team taking the advantage on this map, loosing on the second one.

Vaegirs and Nords are also an interesting match-up because if one could say Vaegir has the clear upper hand on this map, I've seen Nords being used extremly efficiently, using the infantry as a solid pack to challenge the flag areas. I'm definetly looking forward to see how ** and FTW are gonna use theirs.
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If Frosty Battle is a map which has been removed from the competitive map poll a while ago, it still has been played in more recent tournaments than Dreicskdorf and remains a controversial one with his enormous hills encouraging camping a lot.

Yet, both teams are gonna have to deal with it, and alteast Sarranids and Swadia are arguably not the worse factions to be played on Frosty Battle. I've never seen any of those teams performing on this map so I'm quite unaware of how good they can do but due to its size, it is expected that infantries have quite a low impact this time while rangers and cavalries are gonna be able to freely express all their talents.

During the first ECS, Renegades were crushed by KURWA on this very special map. And If I was any of the captains, I would take a look at the stream to see if any stuff could be re-used. You never know.

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Closing Notes

Ferocious Trident Wielders versus Aequalitas is definetly the closest match up of this week, with maybe Castellans vs Irish Rebels. For this reason and also because for both teams this match is extremly important, it's gonna be quite hard to pick up a clear winner. I would still go with FTW knowing they always made it to the playoffs somehow and if they wish to do so for this tournament aswell, a loose against ** is hardly acceptable. But I feel like ** has certainly something to say and it won't be a walk in the park for Robin and Coe.

 
Ciiges said:
Very good read again, nice job

Thanks Ciiges, much appreciated.

Edit : Corrected a few stuff for FTW vs ** which wern't that accurate. Apologizes in advance to the concerned players and thanks to Kragen for helping me out :wink:
 
Elite_Garde said:
Nice work Tardet

Das Knecht said:
Great preview.

Thanks a lot you two. Was planning on doing Castellans vs Irish Rebels as it is clearly one of the most interesting match this week but I felt like I would repeat myself too much so I decided not to. Hopefully, Gibby will help me next week so we'll be able to produce two previews with similar content without saying the same things over and over.
 
CASTELLANS VS POLISH EAGLES - MATCH PREVIEW



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Castellans are a veteran of numerous tournaments; despite having changed their roster over the years they have consistently put in high level performances. All of their players have more than enough experience to make them a fierce side to face, not to mention the individual prowess their members possess. With infantry such as Arni, Anchor and Eder they have an abundance of incredibly talented players in this class. These infantry will be backed up by Nomes, Dopey, KilleR and Hippotitis as cavalry. While Hippotitis is perhaps less experienced than the other big names on this roster, he proved in BRO that he was not to be underestimated. OGL, Yona, Sotamursu and Pepper will be relied upon to make crucial shots, something they have experience doing over their years of play.

Their roster itself is extremely versatile thanks to their abundance of talent in each class. Their infantry is perhaps their strongest front so it would not be surprising to see 3 or 4 inf on both Prison Hill and Ruins Rebuilt. They are by no means limited to this kind of strategy, as they have more than enough capable cavalry players should they choose to use these instead. Prison Hill especially has a number of excellent archer positions so it would be no surprise to see Castellans' archers doing a lot of work here.

Castellans possess the advantage in adaptability as well as having several players of the highest tier, they have already shown they are more than a match for teams such as Irish Rebels, to whom they narrowly lost due to Yona playing cav (c OGL). Their strong core and experienced players will make them difficult to overcome, especially on these mixed maps where they can use their roster to its full potential.
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Key Infantry
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Arni
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Key Rangers
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Yona

Key Cavalry
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Hippo
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KilleR
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Nomes



Key Infantry
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Hubert
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Key Rangers
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Key Cavalry
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Polish Eagles are another veteran team whose members have played together most recently in the Slavic Native League, in which they achieved second place. Most of their players are highly experienced and are used to playing together both in Warband and out of it. They recently had a clan meet-up in Poland which undoubtedly will have helped to boost their play together. Their most notable star player is PriNce, who is an absolute terror to face. Having almost single-handedly decimated FTW he has consistently put in very strong performances. LuckyBlasT has also performed well, making the PE archer duo a real threat to the opposing team. Their infantry, Warhammer, Blackhawk, Pon and Cramer will likely be playing a more passive role in these matches. They are experienced and know how to stay alive, which will be crucial on these mixed maps to allow Firunien, Woj, Colonel and Blue to put in the work they've proven they're capable of.

Their roster is likely to play a more fixed role, I would expect 3 cavalry and 3 infantry on both maps, although potentially 4 on Ruins Rebuilt. It would make sense for Warhammer and Blackhawk to play every set as they will be crucial in holding off players such as Arni and Eder. Woj and Firunien have also shown themselves to be a strong duo so will be relied upon to support the infantry in order to prevent them from being overwhelmed. Both maps favour rangers to a degree so it's likely PriNce and LuckyBlasT will be racking up high scores each set.

Polish Eagles have fantastic teamplay and a desire to win, two things which will make the match difficult for Castellans to win. Although they arguably have less "star" players they are by no means short of skilled players so it should be no surprise to see a close and exciting game.

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I predict a close game with a narrow win for Castellans, although PE definitely have the potential to take this game.



Thanks Tardet for inviting me to write this week.
 
Always a pleasure to have more people involved on such things, and your writting was definetly an interesting read. Thanks for it Gibby.
 
Match Preview: Random Force vs. Irish Rebels


This weekend is gonna see a lot of interesting matchs being played in the fourth week of the Warband Master Tour. But one many people are probably going to keep an eye on is Random Force lead by the talentous and known Rayden facing the brave warriors of Irish Rebels, commanded by Dragz and Boris.


Team Information
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Random Force is the latest surprise of this tournament, joining one week after the tournament started by using the particularity the WMT has to allow sign-ups midways. Lead by Rayden, Pendagron and Menethil, the team became a heavy favorite as soon as they appeared, by having one of the deadliest roster of the current scene, a team filled-up with renowned french speaking talents such as the famous duo Brian and Thorr, or their belgian stooge, Caius. Those three have played the few past tournament together under the Unity banner and will surely be a threat to any opponent facing them. But they won't be the only members of the team to combine skill and teamplay. Four of the best Freelancer players, Menethil, Shingen, Sifon and Bruce last tournament winners will be joining them in order to add another trophy to their hall of fame. And as if it wasn't enough, this time, some of the finest Knight Unicorns and Retarded Warriors Assassins will be fighting alongside them aswell.

Random Force played two matches only given they entered the tournament one week late. This is the only reason why they're currently ranked at the 9th place. Because if you look at both their matchs, they simply outclassed their two opponents. And this is honestly no big surprise. With Bruce, Doener, Pendagron, Sifon, Brian and Thorr, they got one of the most powerful infantry core of the whole tournament. Rayden, Menethil (someone also capable of being an extremly dangerous infantry), and Caius will be a threat anyone should consider carefuly and unless AE, it's a no match cavalry wise for any teams fighting them, with Relax, Trebron and Shingen.

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Irish Rebels are also a serious contender for the tittle, yet, they didn't have the same impact Random Force had on this tournament just yet. If you take aside the default win they got during the first week, both of their matchs were extremly close while IR had a clear advantage on paper. They were so close to loose versus Fearless that many people saw them being defeated in their next match-up, versus Castellans this time. Once again, IR managed to defy the odds but it once also once again too cloose for comfort.

If Dragz and his boys want to win versus Random Force, they're gonna have to show a lot more than what they did during the previous matchs. And that would start by having all their best players attending the match, in order to match Random Force's skill. Having their three archers, Virus, Attila and Blade would be definetly a good way to counter Menethil, Rayden and Caius. Gibby, Sebek, Oliveran and SuperLilli are also more than capable of opposing a good resistance to RF main infantries but the only real problem I see in IR's roster remains their cavalry. Yes, they recruited Fred and this is gonna be a positive force to bring into battle but ... when you're facing the talentous cavs RF got, you might want more than that. Watly and Hopkin are gonna have zero place for mistakes. One early death, one missed couch, could cost them the match at this point.

Tonight is gonna be the real test for IR to see if they have what it task to compete with tournament winners. One positive new is that this time, they really are the underdogs going into this match so it's safe to assume they will be playing with a bit less pressure than what you could feel in their previous matchs.

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Maps


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First match of tonight's show will be Prison Hill. Placed under the mixed map category, it remains one of the most open map and will surely be impacted a lot by cavalry movements. Random Force will be starting as Nords on the map, and Irish Rebels as Sarranids. As for the Nords set-up, they're known to be deadly from short to medium ranges with the javelins from the infantry. Many people even evoked the possibility to play without archers in certain occasion yet, given how RF archers can sometimes change a game, I would be highly surprised if they would play without atleast one. That's really up to their preferences but I've seen Brian and Thorr playing really decently as cavalry so RF could use them as such on this mixed-open map, counting on Bruce, Sifon, Pendagron and Doener to make the necessery work as infantry.

On their side, Sarranids are a somewhat balanced faction, but with really weak horses. I really hope Hopkin and Watly are gonna play defensive and wait for the real engagement to happen before getting into melee, because if one of them die too early, that could be the end of the round already. However, if IR can pick up some rounds really quickly, knowning how momentum is an important factor for this team, this could really help and If don't expect them to finish the first map on the lead, that might be the first needed step in order to get the final victory.
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Infantry might have more impact on Ruins Rebuilt because unlike the first map, it is more of a city scenery, with lots of buildings and huge aisles where cavalry will also definetly have their word to say. I will be interested to see how both teams are gonna engage on this map which was rarely played those last two years, and depending on the scorline, one of them might be tempted to push sooner than flags, due to nervosity or wish to widen the gap. On certain areas, cavalry can have a bit less of an impact so I would encourage IR to try fighting RF there, depending of course of how the infantry fights, if there was one, went on the previous map.

Irish Rebels will be starting as Rhodoks, which in my opinion is the better faction on this kind of map so even if they don't take the lead on the first map, as long as they are able to take enough rounds to make RF doubt of themselves, a perfect start on the second map is the only viable scenario where I could see them being able taking the victory. In case of the contrary happening, then even a 3-0 come back as they used to perfom on their two last matchs might not be enough, nor possible.

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Closing Notes

I want to believe in Irish Rebels, for many reasons, but the realistic scenario here is Random Force taking the victory. They are coming into this match with way more confidence than their opponents, and assembled the best players from the three best teams of the last major tournament. Irish Rebels got the passion that I often see other teams lacking but passion on its own doesn't make you win matches .... or does it? The anwser is tonight, at 7:30BST.
 
AEQUALITAS  VS KAK VSEDGA - MATCH PREVIEW



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Aequalitas is a team which is formed from a German speaking background; they participated in the last WNL with many of the same players and also many new faces that have been added to their roster. Aequalitas started this tournament with a shaky start losing narrowly to Fearless but now have showed what they can do and hopefully will show more in this week 5 matchup.

Aequalitas has recruited some new players that will for sure boost team play and the ability to perform to a higher standard. Players that can help in this such as Rainbow, Habimama and Lapache. The Aequalitas team have a wide range of players that can perform to a very high standard. The infantry line-up of Motthe, Habimama, Zulu. Also a good archer line-up of Rainbow, Varus and Unicorn. They similarly have good cavalry like Disturbed, Ritter (Ice) and Gaius.


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Key Infantry
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Key Rangers
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Key Cavalry
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Key Infantry
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Vernon

Key Rangers
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Key Cavalry
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Kak vsegda is a newly formed Russian speaking clan which consists of players from Heroes and Inquisition so they have good chemistry, this clan is led by Grifon a well-known good commander and a good ranger. Kak vsegda joined the tournament in week 3 starting off with a 12 – 0 win vs CCC.

Kak vsegda is a team consisted of some well-known Russian and Eastern-European players which will give them good chemistry like how they can all speak more or less their own native language. Kak vsegda have a large range of quality players most notable players are Grifon, Max and Vernon. This teams line-up consists of infantry such as Korobas and Vernon, Rangers like noted above Grifon and Max. Kak vsegda also has strong cavalry such as Pink_Pony and more notably a new recruit Balestera’s leader Nexoner who is a good cavalry in my opinion and should fit nicely in there already great team.



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(Sadly no offical banner)



I predict a very close game, maybe the closest of this WMT2 yet. But overall I think that ** will win due to there superior cav.



I would like to thank Tardet for inviting me to write.
 
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