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NQR 8 preview 050307
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My first article of the new season, and of course it's a look ahead to what we can expect in the 6 divisions over the next few months...
Division 6a
6a is the Scandinavian conference in NQR8?s basement division. As usual, calling the winner at this stage will prove difficult as most of the teams are unknown quantities. ?kalvar aspirerar till bufflar? appear to be the b-team of last season?s division 5 winners ?bufflarna flyger i luften? and so perhaps one would fancy them to do well. Several other clans, such as JohnBauer Quakers, Lambi and EGDA, all have NQR experience and will be keen to make a good impression this season.
Division 6b
This is the Southern/Western European conference, but due to the numbers involved there are also three Scandinavian teams thrown in. Again, most teams here are unknown quantities and only unleet (vadrigar) and Profeterna (Ryska Posten) have previous NQR experience.
Division 5a
Like Division 6, Division 5 was seeded geographically. Swedish clan Jagarna will be keen to make up for a tough season in NQR7 where they were bottom of division 4a, and they lead a group of clans that all have a chance of victory. My personal tip is the Euro-mix Knockback, who have a tight E1M2 game and have boosted their chances by recruiting Son from last season?s Division 4b winners, Be Evil. The other playoff spots will be hotly-contested: expect the likes of bosams (The osams b-team), sympozium and ChoseN to be up there come the end of season shake-up.
Division 5b
5b is another one that?s tough to call. Experienced clans like the Germans of SmackThatAss (NQR5 Div 7, NQR6 Div 5, NQR7 Div 4) and the Hungarians of Danube and the Cube Squad B-team will be tough to bring down. Amongst those who have a chance of taking them down are Portuguese clan defs (who have added some non-Portuguese players and as such now have the option of fielding a team without a single Portuguese person in) and the Dutch/British mix team from Wicked Assault Rangers.
Division 4a
Once again we have a division where several teams have a chance of seizing the top spots. The Pigs of POFF have taken a step down from last season and will be one of the favourites to take 4a, especially as their old home map of E2M2 is now in the pool. Bufflarna flyger i luften, last season?s division 5 winners, will be keen to press for a second successive championship and have boosted their chances by recruiting former HGC and !MM! player Canius. Shadow minions reached last season?s final and they should be there or thereabouts again but it will be a lot tougher this time around; they were in the ?easy? conference last time and will face hard competition from the likes of Clan Metally Troopers, Nobody?s Bitch and killaz in suits. Clans likely to find life tough in this division include Psychohaloons Crew, Harmonium and megamen.
Division 4b
Yesterday I would have tipped New Quake Order as the favourites for this conference, but it seems as though they have lost some of their new recruits already. Unless they can add some more quality to their squad I foresee a mid-table finish for them. The teams to watch here will be the Polish clan Ax3, the Swedes from Jokkmokk and Euro mix Quakeworld Corporation. It might be worth keeping an eye on Fjortiz, a team led by fragomatic?s Grisling who has ?done a znappe? and decided to play with real life mates for this season. And after a season where we had no American teams, we have 2 in NQR8. Illumunati are in division 5 and it will be very interesting to see how ?The Boss? manage with life in division 4.
Division 3a
Amongst the teams hoping to squeeze into the 4 playoff spots in division 3a are Finnish veterans Bad Luck Troopers. Their squad features some experienced players such as havz (aka skii) and heddan and they will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. The clans with a big chance of stopping them in their tracks include Link?s might Axemen, Chopstick Ninjas (powered by Fah-Q and Primus), and Just for Fun. To be frank, I think every clan in this conference can beat any other and this could be just as tight as last season?s division 3b. Watch out especially for Easy to Kill (semi-finals of last season?s division 4 playoffs) and the germans from Klatch and Dybbuk.
Division 3b
Division 3b is once again where I find my own clan, Osams. It looks like a tough group and there will be a big fight for the playoff spots. Suspected have dropped down from division 2 and they are my favourites for taking the division, but the likes of The Riddlers (Kat, Inex), A2K (who have recruited saemuz, formerly of 4Kings) and sexy (Oiva?s latest clanhopper mix team) will all be in with a big shout of stopping them. As with 3a, all the teams here have a chance, but I would expect Luis clan to be down near the foot of the table come May. The surprise package here could be the British stalwarts from JAMS; they?ve often been placed in a tough division and ended up placing in the middle but this season it should be a little easier and they have a great chance of making the playoffs.
Division 2
There are a lot of strong teams in this division and picking the top 6 for the playoffs is going to be very difficult indeed. One would think that the Russians of Death Team are sure-fire bets for a top 6 place (especially as they have recruited Unnamed/XN) and I imagine that the likes of SuddenDeath and Postal Justice will be up there too. Then there are experienced old school clans like MNY, Kala and Paranoia alongside newer teams such as Boefje and the Pures and things suddenly look a bit more interesting. It?s hard to find weak teams in this division and even the ?worse? teams in the division will be in with a great chance of picking up a few wins.
Division 1
All of the top teams are back from last season and it looks like being a good season in NQR8?s division 1. NQR7 Champions Clan Sivfunction will go into the season without being burdened by the ?favourites? tag as star player Angua is in the army and thus somewhat inactive. Lege Artis have to be the odds-on favourites at this stage, especially as the map pool is now TB3 only. The likes of Fragomatic, Griffins Tappra Gossar and Hard Guns Crew will all surely have a shout when it comes to the end of the season. And of course, one can never rule out Slackers. Hib is back playing, and if he can get back to tip-top shape then SR will be very hard to stop. It will be very interesting to see how Firing Squad do during the regular season; seeing them win the Invitational Classic Cup was a big shock to many and I hope they can play a simarly solid game during the upcoming season. The darkhorses for me this season are Gamer and his merry men from KOFF; they have improved immensely since last season and regularly beat the likes of LA and SR in practice games. How they can go in a competitive tournament is another matter, but the fact that they beat LA on DM3 in the ICC is a big step in the right direction.
19 comments |
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Div4b: and where is the CCS A team? O_o
We will see...
GL for all
of registered clans. |
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I don't think boefje is a 'new' team? And my goal is to end up in the top 10 :S. |
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| Link - .*** |
050307 @ 16:53:14 |
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Nice wrapup |
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| gaz - .*** |
050307 @ 17:05:16 |
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I said "newer" teams flep; they only formed before NQR7 which counts as "newer"
in my book :F |
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| lib - .*** |
050307 @ 17:14:36 |
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this season could go either way for us in buff tbh. canius and punscho are lost
to WoW/schoolwork and hellmagic still has his amazing 90-ping-in-sweden
connection, but hopefully we'll get our asses in gear and start practicing a bit
again before it's too late |
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gaz for president! |
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| bambuz - .*** |
050307 @ 18:07:23 |
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...can't wait to play! |
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I kinda miss circle in slackers nqr squad. |
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| tranq - .*** |
050307 @ 19:11:21 |
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I want to join just to be in a "CONFERENCE" |
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Beware Rebellion of thunder in div6b.
They have a good lineup. |
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luis clan in 3b is a good team imo, not bottom of 3b |
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| billy - .*** |
050307 @ 20:51:39 |
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luis clan is an 01d p0l15h 0ld5ku1 t34m , used to be the best in .pl and if they
prac a bit they might be an upset \o/ |
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| leppis - .*** |
050308 @ 07:13:57 |
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ze osams b-team will win div5 easily |
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| uSaFan - .*** |
050308 @ 21:08:59 |
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Omg Cyan and the bunch playing, wooot go us!
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| murdoc - .*** |
050309 @ 10:56:03 |
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what about our new div2 team Be |
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| znappe - .*** |
050311 @ 03:00:30 |
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omg, i got something called after me! im famous! |
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| gaz - .*** |
050404 @ 00:42:44 |
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test |
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| lavos - .*** |
050419 @ 08:15:45 |
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"I think the ladder?s map stats will be very useful indeed"
If u will use
ladders map stats, when u are going to decide maps for nqr9, plz remember that
SSC is the only reason why e3m7 is popular at those stats :) |
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| lavos - .*** |
050419 @ 08:16:32 |
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hups, wrong comments ;<<< |
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