| Columns - gaz |
| NQR7 preview part 2 040928 | ||||
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Division 2A Division 2 showcases a wide range of skills, from those not quite strong enough for div 1, down to those deemed too good for division 3. At one end of the scale of Div2A, we have Elaintarha, the Finnish clan who have impressed everyone with their big improvements since moving from Team Fortress several seasons ago. Having added Diki (ToT), Myz (!MM!) and Melody (Qandrane) to their rooster, the boys from the Zoo will be aiming for a top 3 finish this season. Their biggest rivals will most likely come from their fellow Fins, MNY, and Russian team New Wave. MNY have a strong squad with players such as Adler and Pai who are more than capable of making a key contribution at this level. New Wave have players such as glad who have played in the upper echelons of NQR in recent seaons, and after an impressive effort in the Summer Cup, NW will want to push on to the playoffs. Outside of these 3, it is anyone?s guess as to who will get the playoff spots. Boefje have a strong squad made up of ex-4K players such as kryten & amen, as well as other strong Central European players like gijs, dopeskillz and Mja. If Empires of Azeroth can get their strongest lineup out, then they will be keen to make an impression on the division. Players such as Locktar, venture, sae and uig have the experience and skills to do well in this division, and they will all be needed to play a crucial supporting role to the team?s superstar, tyrone the sneaky fucking russian. Whether Tyrone will leave his caravan to play any QW this season is unknown, but this issue will be important to EA?s success. Fraggers United and JAMS are two very experienced lineups but the competition in this conference could prove too strong for them. Ax3, Best Frags and Oblivion are unknown quantities in some respects, but one would expect to see them scrapping it out near the foot of the table. Division 2B Div 2B contains several clans that feel they have been placed in the wrong division. Finite (a mix of UK & North Americans), Ancient Gods, Veterans and Suspected will all expect a tough season this year, but they should each be able to pick up some points and confidence in the games between each other. Suspected in particular look pretty useful and have strong teamplay, boosted by former Jagarna players Eggarf and Swing in particular. Vets have added former BGSR star Ztorm to their rooster in order to help them survive at this level but it is uncertain as to whether his skills will be sufficient to guide the Vets to a playoff spot. At the top of the table, expect to see the Swedes from Suddendeath battling with the Hungarians from clan Paranoids. Para finished 2nd in div 2 in NQR6 but have been struck down with inactivity over the summer months; their strongest lineup is unlikely to be available throughout the season so they will simply aim for the playoffs and then see what happens. SD boasts a very good squad including players such as Flepser, Bagheera and Blaps; all of their team has good skills and nice teamplay and SD will be very tough to beat. The Fins from Toolo locals and the kurwas of Death Dealers, led by Kat (of former HGC fame) will also hope to finish in the top spot, but the Russians from UPS and the Finnish clan mumS will be hoping to spoil the party. Division 1A Division 1 has always been renowned for its high drama, high skills and exciting games, and this season is unlikely to be any different. Conference A features 2 of the best clans from NQR history and is an intriguing prospect. LegeArtis head up the list and will be most people?s favourites to win the whole she-bang. They came close last season and they have been practicising actively in the last few weeks. It looks likely that superstar-slime will also be more active this season, which will come as a big boost to LA. We may have lost TVS this season, but another old-school Finnish clan has taken their place. Yep, that?s right, the boys from Clan Malfunction are back. You?d have to be mad to predict CMF to finish outside of the top 2 if you consider their current rooster. In fix & fifi, they have 2 of the greatest 4on4 players of all time, and these 2 are complimented by more top players such as vana, hlt and siv. CMF?s long-term success will probably depend on the stability of their lineup, but it would be very surprising if we didn?t see them and LA battling out for top spot in division 1A. Fragomatic, like the aforementioned Elaintarha, are another clan that has shown enormous improvements in recent seasons. After a very good season in NQR5-div2, fOm reached NQR6?s Gold playoff quarter-finals, before losing 2-0 to Slackers. Their recent practices show that they have continued to build on that success, and with the addition of former EQ player XantoM, fOm have a lineup that is capable of great things. They?re more reliant on strong teamplay than on awesome individual skills, but fOm?s rooster is still more than capable of making a large dent in NQR this season. Behind these 3 clans is a small clutch of clans who will all hope to steal the final playoff spot. AntiQuad will hope to improve on NQR6 where they finished last in div1 without a single win, and Hyphen and Hard Guns Crew will also want to register a better performance this time round. These 3 along with Tribe of Tjernobyl will be favourites to fight it out for the final playoff place, but at this stage it will be tough to predict it. The Axemen (Norway/Sweden), Paranoia (Finland) and Death Team (Russia) complete the division 1A lineup and each of these clans will be keen to show that they are not just there to make up the numbers. Division 1B If Div1A is tough to predict, then 1B a real toughie. People will point to reigning champions Slackers as the favourites for this conference, and despite SR losing some key players, this is probably still the case. SR will have to hope that the loss of Gamer and the predicted inactivity of Hib will not affect them too much, and that new members Xerial and Circle can settle in to the SR way of life quickly, if they are to repeat last season?s success. Behind them, Firing Squad, Griffins Tappra Gossar, Game Over, Gatugeng and perhaps Freedom will all be confident of getting into the playoff places. FS in particular will fancy their chances if they can get their best lineup of Razor/Reppie/Blixm/Spoink playing regularly again. FS should be too strong for the other teams, and perhaps they can even end their horrific recent run against SR and take some points off them this season. GTG have added mrlame since last season, and more importantly, Griffin is now an LPB. The prospect of these 2 and UL in the same team is mouth-watering; the 4th player in GTG?s lineup will be crucial if the Swedes are to have any success. Game Over (formerly Fudoh) will be hoping for another playoff outing having lost to LA in last season?s quarter-finals, and their strength of CMT4/E1M2 will be key if they are to have any success. Gatugeng are particularly hard to predict: the early signs are good, with former BGSR/X players Angua and Vladde signing up to join Purity, but their success will depend on whoever else is brought in to join them. The names interceptor and wigorf have been mentioned on the rumour mill, and these would certainly give Gatan a good chance of a playoff spot at the very least. These rumours are of course, only rumours at this stage, and the chances are equal that Gatan could finish 2nd or 7th. Similarly, Freedom are looking to add to their squad, though it is thought that their search is over, having signed up Javve (former Divines). They will still face a tough task to make one of the 4 playoff spots, but considering the quality of players such as Firehoppir and Whajna/Valla/Progamer/Whatever he?s called this week, they are well-equipped to face the other clans in the division. The other clans, Insanity! (formerly Dutch Hope), Kala, KOFF and Satanic Slaughter Clan will all struggle to threaten the playoff hopefuls, but should be able to take enough points off each other to avoid a complete wash-out this season. 22 comments |
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| good read. very well done. | ||||
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| agree | ||||
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| gaz you are the news and coverage angel | ||||
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| I are famous and very div2 skilled :( | ||||
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| Thumbs up. | ||||
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| I would like to see Ermac as GTG's "4th player"; he is the most underrated 4v4 player in quakeworld today. | ||||
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| An old Finnish saying states (verbatim): "You'll not get a rooster to crow by telling it to." I feel it applies nicely here. Thoughts? | ||||
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| Any div 3 clown prac? (c) Sassa | ||||
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| menth0l: must be a really old saying since i've never heard it :) | ||||
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| "Ei kukko k?skien laula" ? Were you raised in a barrel? | ||||
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| wtf sadtroops div1. | ||||
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| menth0l: oh yeah might have heard that one | ||||
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| lol jkova :)) but if you tell the rooster to crow when sun is about to set, will he listen then? | ||||
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| Good predictions gaz! | ||||
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| well done. | ||||
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| I think Hagge iz teh most underrated 4on4 player in the whole qw history ;( | ||||
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| -insane- underrated? everybody knows that hagge is the $$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!! | ||||
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| i thought roosters crowed in the morning. so he still won't
listen.
also crowed clearly should not be a word and probably isn't one. |
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| Test | ||||
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| Nice reading these thoughts, great predictions and well written. I would like to add that Haj could be a player in Gatugeng too.. wich would of course put them on the map in a big way. | ||||
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| I'd like to add that gatugeng doesn't participate in NQR anymore. Vladde went to legeartis and I'm on my own rebellious rampage >:) | ||||
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| SSC? They got milton right? | ||||
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