Division 2 Preview

2010-03-02 12:56 by Hooraytio

EQL11 has started and we kick off with a preview of division 2 by Hooraytio.

Enjoy!

EQL 11 Division 2
Finally the signups have taken place and the divisions are up. I am back to write yet another preview of one of the divisions. At the same time I urge all of you out there, who have some writing skills, to sit down and write a preview, do an interview or write another qw related article. I am sure that most of us other quakers would enjoy it.

This season we have 3 divisions with 12 to 13 clans each and I will try to cover division 2 with a preview and news items along the way. All 3 divisions will play DM2, DM3 and E1M2 exclusively so there will be no room for error on these old and well known maps. There are no aces up the sleeves for some clans to pick a custom map to score some strategic points versus the more conservative clans out there. There have not been any map whine so far during the season preparations so I guess the side of the community that are leaning towards custom maps either don’t care that much about custom maps or they can live with a season focusing on TB3.

The clans
There are 12 clans in division 2 and they have opted to play in every division from 2 to 4. Since EQL will consist of 3 divisions this time some clans who thought they were division 4 will have to play here. In a way this will be a mix of middle clans where the range of skill will be quite large between the top and bottom clans. I am sure there will be some placement whine but I urge the less good clans to hang in there and keep it up, you probably would have raped division 3 anyway.

Apocalypse 2000
This team has been around for ages and their competitive history stretches back to the middle seasons of NQR even though the clan existed before that. A2K have also participated in all EQL seasons and their player base has remained the same with a few hot additions over the years. This clan has been very good at adopting the custom maps in the past but they will not be able to show off these skills this time around. However, they are not by any means weak on the TB3 maps and their latest addition, Twist, will not make them any worse on DM3 for example. This clan can go far and are a contender for the top4 spots and thus having the advantage to face a weaker clan in the first game of the 8 slot playoffs. Watch out for xenic as well because he can crumble the enemies’ defenses with both shaft and insults!

Demolition Crew
Now here is a team that has made some interesting changes for this season. The recent tournament Clan Warz has made my polish friends divide their clan in two separate teams. This is the a-team boasting players like pooll and szu supported by ponzek, goniec and air. All their players, with the exception of air, are well known to me and are very good at DM2 and DM3 while lacking some crucial skills on E1M2. They are, however, becoming better at the last piece of the puzzle as well so don’t think you can score an easy point by selecting E1M2. This clan will benefit a lot from not having to spend time on the custom maps, as many other polish clans alike. This team can very well place themselves inside the top4 if they manage to keep their activity up throughout the season.

Pissed Cobs
Newly formed team with players like marvel, panic, flintheart and sailorman. I haven’t seen these guys prac but I found some matches over at quakeworld statistics showing some losses versus EQL11 division 1 clan Teamkillers. I am not sure one should read too much into it though as Teamkillers have been practicing quite a lot and it will take a while for PC to get some routine going. Just by looking at their players I think this team can be kind of good but history has shown that players like panic, flintheart and to some extent sailorman tend to disappear and/or idle a few days/games into the season. Marvel and furiousity on the other hand are more reliable to stick around but will need at least 2 more active players to pull through the season. Playing TB3 only will benefit this clan as they will have to focus on less maps and TB3 is so well known that it is easier to get some team play going even in a newly formed team. Provided that they stay active they will make it to playoffs without a doubt.

Revolution 2
This is another polish team that has emerged or re-emerged because of the recent Polish league. Revolution came back to play in Clan Warz but decided to split into two teams for EQL11. Revolution was placed in division 1 while Revolution 2 was placed here in division 2. Consisting of only 4 players I think they will struggle to keep active and I hope that they will be easier to contact than some of the other Polish clans we have seen take part in EQL before. It is not a wild guess that they are good at DM2 and the fact that they won’t have to play any custom maps will benefit them as well. Polish clans are usually a little weaker on E1M2 for various reasons, the ping being one of them as the map itself is very boomstick dependant. However, these guys will probably make it to playoffs but they won’t go through to the quarter finals.

Ax3
This clan dates back to NQR3 at least and probably even beyond that. I remember my team GamBlers having a very close game versus them to decide the runner-up in NQR3 division 3 behind Swedish clan Second. That is all history now and the poles have re-emerged now and then with various level of success. They are naturally strong on DM2 and will also be glad to not have to play custom maps. It is a general tendency in Poland to be very fond of TB3 and DM2 in particular. This clan might just squeeze themselves into the playoffs but will be greatly contested by clans such as Demolition Crew 2 and Magnum 44 for that last spot. Number of games played will be a factor since there are always some clans that don’t get all their games played.

Chosen
This SweFinCz team has been home to players like myself, Kalma, Pyta, Flamer for many seasons of both EQL and NQR. Many players have played for us throughout the years and for EQL10 we added Sajko, Junkass, Littleomar and Growdah1 which has worked out nicely. Sadly enough, for EQL11 we have lost Fisto and Donut to IRL and this will of course affect our performance overall just like it did last season when Fisto only played 2 maps and Donut only participated in some pracs. It feels like DM2 has risen to be our best map again, replacing E1M2 on that position, while DM3, as always, is a bit troublesome for us. Instead of having 4-5 very active players we have always worked with getting the right lineup for each map from a large pool of players. This has been made visible by following our progress throughout the years. This is perhaps not the best way to become better but we try to have as much fun as possible and let everyone play as much as they like. I figure CSN will reach playoffs, ending around 5-6th place, and where we go from there depends a lot on form and mood. No risk of missing playoffs entirely though.

Demolition Crew 2
Poland has really seen a rise in activity, much thanks to Clan Warz and DC2 is yet another result of this. Having split into 2 teams I think their aim was to play in different divisions, for example divison 2 and 3 but because of the structure of EQL11 with 3 divisions those plans crashed and burned. This team will have a harder time than DC and will probably have a fierce fight with a few other clans over that last playoff spot. DC2 players Shamoth and Highlander have, together with DC players Pooll and Ponczek, played verus my team, Chosen, for about 150 maps and they have much experience on TB3 with, surprise!, focus on DM2. Accompanied by fluartity, matek and barkastrong they will try to gain points from DM2 and struggle on DM3 and E1M2.

Fraggers United
FU have a good team that has been playing together for quite some time now. Methuselah (Anza) will once again guide his glorious warriors, with bamsen, oho, kippo and focu in the front, into battle. These guys are good on all TB3 maps and won’t have many problems with what the other clans throw at them. Ending lower than top4 will be a disappointment for them as I believe this team is strong enough to compete for the title.

Magnum 44
After a good performance versus hard opponents M44 finished 4th in EQL10 division 3. Their best map is DM2 but they have improved a lot on E1M2 and DM3 as well. Last season they expressed their negative opinions about custom maps and will therefore be quite happy to play TB3 only this time around. Glt and plate.cfg are by far their best players but they will need good backup from 3rd and 4th guys to be able to make an impact versus the mid and top teams of this division. If myca and samon could play most maps with their 2 top players I think they will reach place 7 or 8 but it is going to be tough. There are quite a few clans competing for the 2 last spots. It all comes down to activity though and just one more played game could make the difference between playoffs and an early end.

Satanic Slaughter Clan
The team that came close to win division 3 playoffs in EQL10 but fell short just at the finish line where Teamkillers proved to be too strong. Their lineup is pretty much the same as last season, some of the idle players have been removed. Last season their best TB3 map was DM2 followed by E1M2 while having a slightly less awesome performance on DM3. Still they won 57% of their DM3 tries. As many of you know this is the long time home of Milton and if just some of his skill and experience rubbed onto these guys they will be a force to fear this season as well. Adding Mingle for EQL10 was a good move indeed as he and Slaughter fragged quite nicely and I expect them to do the same during EQL11. This is another contender for the top4 positions and I think they will have little problems to achieve such a position at the end of the regular season. If they keep playing with slaughter, mingle, rekk and chafe just as they did in EQL10 they will form a good and stable lineup that will have the routine and team play to compete for the title once again.

Clan Cube Squad
The most active Hungarian clan of later years has moved up from the lowest division to compete with the bigger boys. I recently tried to prac versus them but they didn’t want to because of the skill difference. I can relate to that as I tend to deny clans like Fusion and Oblivion when they try to prac versus us (csn). However, I think that CCS underestimate themselves when they fear a rape versus middle clans like Chosen. They will have a hard time for sure and probably miss playoffs but I hope they hang in there even if it is tough because with some matches behind them I think they will grow a number and win a few maps and matches. They will most likely end somewhere around place 9-12, possibly place 12. PROTIP: Start versus the hardest clans and you will be better suited versus the weaker ones.

Quinas
Mostly Portuguese players with some backup from England, Ireland and Germany this clan will face problems when trying to find good servers to play on. The players they want on the field will be Mushi, Dib, Hedge, Fer and Flash, otherwise they won’t win many games in this division. Depending on the lineup they could probably reach playoffs but it is going to be tough for them. During EQL9 they won the regular season in division 3 and division 3 playoffs by defeating Boomstick Ownators in the final with the score 3-2. During EQL10 they only managed to play 2 games though and couldn’t make the same impact on division 3 as they did the season before. Their games were also removed because of their low activity. I Hope to see them back on track now. They are strong on all TB3 maps with their highest win percentage on E1M2 during EQL9.

Expected standings at the end

1-3 Apocalypse 2000
1-3 Demolition Crew
1-3 Satanic Slaughter Clan
4-6 Fraggers United
4-6 Pissed Cobs
4-6 Chosen
7-9 Demolition Crew 2
7-9 Quinas
7-9 Magnum 44
7-10 Revolution 2
7-11 Ax3
12 Clan Cube Squad

Good luck to all clans!

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