NSL European Open Final (live at i49) discussion
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This post has been edited. Join Date: 2003-07-23 Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
This post has been edited. Join Date: 2003-07-23 Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
With the big game coming up this Saturday, I thought I'd write a few words to hopefully start a conversation.
As most forumites reading this hopefully know by now, the Legendary Snails of France will be playing against Finland's Saunamen, for a decent chunk of money, donated 50/50 by the developers and the community. There will also be a small contingent of ns2 players in attendance, as well as blind and Strayan who will be streaming the game.
Legendary Snails are a fairly new team, formed about three months ago, when eagleye and ray decided to leave Archaea and start their own all-french team. Their players, however, are not new; they all have experience from ns1 as far as I know, with RioS, ray, eagleye, king_yo being veterans of competitive play. Their strength primarily lies in individual skill and natural teamwork, no doubt aided by having a small roster of very active players. RioS, their commander, probably has the fastest and most accurate meds in the world right now, and with marine players like eagleye, king_yo and herakles, they can be downright scary to play against. They're no pushovers on aliens either; they're all great skulks, and with ray's lerk and eagleye and king_yo's fades, they're very hard to beat.
Saunamen, on the other hand, are an ancient team by ns2 standards. Originally formed as an ns1 team over 7 years ago, with a long list of past achievements, they're one of the truly great teams of ns1 past and ns2 present. The current incarnation of Saunamen has mix of old school skills and new talent, which has worked out well for them so far. Peach and Tane (who left Archaea to join Saunamen) alone have won more tournaments than the rest of the community put together (not counting me) and there's no doubt that they have the balls to perform in big games. Traditionally, their strength has been on the marine side, with a slightly weaker alien side. Lately, however, they've been showing some innovative alien strategies, being one of the first teams to exploit the new possibilites created by the balance patches this summer, and a Saunamen alien side win is possible even against Snail's marine powerhouse. Laama's lerk play will likely be essential (as it was in the semi-final against Godar). They also have possibly the best fade in the game in whiii, who has a lot of pressure riding on his shoulders for this game. On the marine side, I expect to see them playing in their usual aggressive playstyle, relying heavily on Tane and whiii's fragging abilities.
These teams have faced each other in several officials in the past. If we go as far back as to the Nations Cup final in june, between Finland and France, who were basically the prototype versions of these two teams, Saunamen came out on top with a 4-2 win. More recently, however, Snails have been the stronger team, beating Saunamen twice, 3-1 in the group stage and 4-2 in the final. Practice match results show a similar trend, with Snails winning the majority of the rounds. It should also be noted that both teams have two players who have participated in ns2 lan finals previously: eagleye and ray on Snails and laama and Tane on Saunamen, giving neither team an advantage in the "lan experience" category. There's also an interesting duel between eagleye and Tane, because after this match, one of them will be the only remaining player to have won every ns2 lan event.
Keeping what I wrote in the previous paragraph in mind, Snails should be considered the favorites to win. I wouldn't count Saunamen out, however. They've proven that they're a team that can handle high pressure situations, like their nail-biting 4-3 win over Godar that qualified them for this event. In the end, both teams are highly skilled and either team has a realistic chance at winning. My money is on the french, though, because two ex-archaeans > one ex-archaean!
As most forumites reading this hopefully know by now, the Legendary Snails of France will be playing against Finland's Saunamen, for a decent chunk of money, donated 50/50 by the developers and the community. There will also be a small contingent of ns2 players in attendance, as well as blind and Strayan who will be streaming the game.
Legendary Snails are a fairly new team, formed about three months ago, when eagleye and ray decided to leave Archaea and start their own all-french team. Their players, however, are not new; they all have experience from ns1 as far as I know, with RioS, ray, eagleye, king_yo being veterans of competitive play. Their strength primarily lies in individual skill and natural teamwork, no doubt aided by having a small roster of very active players. RioS, their commander, probably has the fastest and most accurate meds in the world right now, and with marine players like eagleye, king_yo and herakles, they can be downright scary to play against. They're no pushovers on aliens either; they're all great skulks, and with ray's lerk and eagleye and king_yo's fades, they're very hard to beat.
Saunamen, on the other hand, are an ancient team by ns2 standards. Originally formed as an ns1 team over 7 years ago, with a long list of past achievements, they're one of the truly great teams of ns1 past and ns2 present. The current incarnation of Saunamen has mix of old school skills and new talent, which has worked out well for them so far. Peach and Tane (who left Archaea to join Saunamen) alone have won more tournaments than the rest of the community put together (not counting me) and there's no doubt that they have the balls to perform in big games. Traditionally, their strength has been on the marine side, with a slightly weaker alien side. Lately, however, they've been showing some innovative alien strategies, being one of the first teams to exploit the new possibilites created by the balance patches this summer, and a Saunamen alien side win is possible even against Snail's marine powerhouse. Laama's lerk play will likely be essential (as it was in the semi-final against Godar). They also have possibly the best fade in the game in whiii, who has a lot of pressure riding on his shoulders for this game. On the marine side, I expect to see them playing in their usual aggressive playstyle, relying heavily on Tane and whiii's fragging abilities.
These teams have faced each other in several officials in the past. If we go as far back as to the Nations Cup final in june, between Finland and France, who were basically the prototype versions of these two teams, Saunamen came out on top with a 4-2 win. More recently, however, Snails have been the stronger team, beating Saunamen twice, 3-1 in the group stage and 4-2 in the final. Practice match results show a similar trend, with Snails winning the majority of the rounds. It should also be noted that both teams have two players who have participated in ns2 lan finals previously: eagleye and ray on Snails and laama and Tane on Saunamen, giving neither team an advantage in the "lan experience" category. There's also an interesting duel between eagleye and Tane, because after this match, one of them will be the only remaining player to have won every ns2 lan event.
Keeping what I wrote in the previous paragraph in mind, Snails should be considered the favorites to win. I wouldn't count Saunamen out, however. They've proven that they're a team that can handle high pressure situations, like their nail-biting 4-3 win over Godar that qualified them for this event. In the end, both teams are highly skilled and either team has a realistic chance at winning. My money is on the french, though, because two ex-archaeans > one ex-archaean!
Comments
Fana math at its finest. :P
Great write up though. Lots of good background information on both teams. Should be an exciting match to say the least.
#believe
Very excited to watch this