Getting to Know the Intermediate League
Introduction:
In early September, twenty-four teams started in the America's Army: NA - 4v4 Fall 2006 - Intermediate League. Soon after, four of the teams dropped. A couple of them were a no show for the September 11th, Pre-Season match on Sandstorm, which caused them to forfeit their Intermediate League spot. In no time, a couple more of the competitors asked to be removed from the league. The Competition Staff managed to quickly find two replacement teams from the Open League. Here we are in week eight, with three maps before the playoffs, and only fifteen teams remain.
Apparently, for better or worse, these comrades are here to finish the Regular-Season. This may just be a last fling for some, but for others its a ticket to the Invites. As the competition watches from their seats, the real spectacle is never discovered until you stand face to face in a match. People will talk, rumors fancied about teams that are hardly accurate. Therefore, the News Team thought it would be nice to break the ice and get to know the competition by hearing it straight from the source.
Each of the Intermediate teams were asked to give a brief introduction pertaining to this league. Afterwards each team answered the following question: Which two teams do you predict will make it to the finals, who will win, and why? Keep in mind that most teams have played 2-3 matches since their predictions were made.
On a personal level, the people that I interviewed made this write-up most enjoyable and they each managed to enlighten me. After the questions and answers, came some small talk, which led to some interesting and friendly conversations. I thank everyone for their participation and hope that you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
Black Division
Team The {KNIGHTS} of the Round Table:
Our performance in the Kawasaki 6v6 Open League landed us a spot in the Intermediates. Along that path we have lost a couple valuable members, but have gained a few in return. Laz and Balla came back to us. In addition, we have gained yet another asset: Dagen!us. Our team has applied a new rule: if you miss practice you dont play in that weeks Inters match. This rule has forced us to tweak our strats, style, and overall performance as a team. We are very grateful for the {KNIGHTS} EU players, as they support the NA players by scrimming us before each league match. {KNIGHTS} has enjoyed being a part of the Inters, as the level of competition is cordial and very competitive. The teams here are great and we are eager to see how the league unfolds. It's exciting to witness, firsthand, a colleague transition to the Invites. Kudos to each team!
Team .ki^, standing with a 5-0 record, is an obvious favorite for Escort. However, the element of surprise is inevitable at times. Team {KNIGHTS} is reaching for that element... Finals: Red Dawn vs {KNIGHTS}. And Red Dawn for the win, because they are going to go out with a bang!
Team -ENE.rvate Gaming:
We have been in a rebuilding phase for a bit now, and we have undergone some big changes to the core of the team. Slightly more of the old core remains than those who have departed for various reasons, but just not in a crazy active state as previously seen - no more 6-10 hours of prep/scrims a day. We have recruited some new players to complement and help our current members. We are using this season as a rebuilding time to get some of the new key players more match time to build up our teamwork and match communication to a level as we had in the past seasons. We also moved towards making sure we have fun and get along with each other more than worrying about trying to be #1. We have had a blast this season so far and look forward to the rest of the season.
Expect to see Team .ki^ in the finals for sure and we hope to be right beside them. If not, {KNIGHTS} or Force Recon will be right there at the top for the Ambush Conference. If we meet .ki^ in the finals, it will be a good match and too tough to call. It will mostly depend on the maps, but any other team we think will be defeated by team .ki^. They have come a long, long way since we first met.
Team +NATO_+ Beta Division:
NATO has been involved in competitive AA pretty much from day one (participating in nine different Invite League Seasons), and are made up of a very diverse group of gamers. The changes to the game over the past year have pushed many in the group away from AA and towards other games like BF2, BF2142, WoW, etc... but we still have a small group of AA holdouts that still enjoy getting together for competitive matches. Previous seasons have brought many highs and lows. However, the fact that many of us are not only online friends, but also real-life friends helps keep us strong. When we get a few more of our former invite roster and/or some new blood, we will be a force in AA again, though for now we are mostly just looking to have a good time playing matches again after a long break.
Team .ki^ for Escort, as they seem to be consistently performing the best. For Ambush, if we actually practiced, it would be us... but since that is unlikely to change we will just say the winner will come from the Black Division, as in our opinion it is far stronger. The obvious choice for the overall winner would be .ki^, but anything can happen.
Team -a.ftermath aka Vindictive Gaming:
Aftermath is formerly known as Vindictive Gaming and came to TeamWarfare to play Opens so that we could compete more frequently than just in CAL. While competing in the Opens, we were asked to move up to the Intermediate League and we jumped on the chance to play against teams that were reputed to be very good. Our main focus in TWL is to get a better feel for our teamwork and to get a feel for what the higher up competition will be like. We hope to excel in the league and play some good matches that will give us a supreme guide to future leagues and ladders.
We feel that the teams with the best chances of going to finals are .ki^ & {KNIGHTS}. .ki^ has had a very strong season so far, with a 5-0 record, and has had a good showing for this part of the league. {KNIGHTS} has also been doing very well, but .ki^ will probably come out on top because they have a really strong roster, tactics, and have more match experience.
White Division
Team -Force Recon:
Our starting roster is composed of 50% Canadians and 50% Americans, depending on pre-match attendance. New people on the roster include Time-Bomb, Six, DarkPhalanx, and rolled. Force Recon has been around for a long time. Most members on the team have had some Invite experience, but we all know we arent Invite players. [FR] has had a lot of rocky times, but our core group has been together for the better part of four years and we are all great friends. When it comes to competition, we dont practice or scrim. We do nothing to prepare for our matches. We only have two people in the starting line, and we fill in the roster with whoever seems like the best to play or at the very least whoever is on comms at match time. To be honest, 90% of this team doesnt play AA anymore. Instead, we play SilkRoadOnline, and are having a blast doing it. AA used to be fun, but it has really gone to crap in the last few patches, so we are moving on to a game that is not only fun but also relaxing.
One of the two teams we see being in the final match is obvious: .ki^ will be the Eastern Conference rep. From Western we see {KNIGHTS} taking it, basically because we don't care; if we did, it would be us, but every team wants to say it would be them. With some practice and even a glimmer of want, it would be us.
Team -underp^aid:
Team underpaid was created by a few players that left team regeneration, such as dark, kevin, moh-aw, killdozer, and killahoe. Just recently, lost, nickell, and d!z landed here from Rupture, filling out the roster. Relax has been in and out about ten times and is here once again . Team Underpaid was granted an Intermediate spot after Rupture died out. We have been getting killed ever since. We wish all teams the best of success.
Well from Escort it's definitely going to be .ki^ . It's a tough call from Ambush; {KNIGHTS} look good, along with Force Recon and maybe -ENE., and if we get lucky, -up^ too . .ki^ FTW!
Team volatilis I.nfensus:
Team Volatilis Infensus formed in the winter of 2005. We went through some ups and downs, like any decent clan does, but the heart of the team is still here. This is our second season in TWL 4v4 Intermediates and we are hoping to give it a better run this time. Our division is a bit of a mess with teams dropping from it constantly, but if we stick it out we think we have a chance to win the division. Recently we beat the first place team in our division which gives us a shot at first. Next we have two big matches vs. Underpaid and NATO, and in order for us to keep pace with Force Recon we need the wins. Our match experience is plentiful, and we have shown good results against several experienced teams. Unfortunately, when it matters the most, we come unprepared and even a man down, which leads to ugly scores. With only five matches left well need to be more dedicated in order to show success. Now that CAL is over for us and we dropped a ladder, well have more time to focus on league matches. Our teamwork is starting to get better, which should hopefully lead to better results in tough match-ups. Good luck to all the teams!
We feel it will be .ki^ vs NATO_. Based on .ki^'s success vs top squads, they are they are likely to win the title. Many teams can give them a run for their money, but we believe .ki^ will take it.
Blue Division
Team .ki^:
Team .ki^ has four active military members in it, and we thank them all for doing what they do for our country. To Phrog, who is in the Gulf right now, CrackaB and Legit, who are in Iraq, were all praying for a safe return. With all of these players off doing their own thing, we only have six active members: w0rd, Store, Row, banana, gunna, and rKa. Shady plays on occasion, but is usually tied up with school. Java plays in his band and has no time for us, and Hostile realized that CS > AA. Team .ki^ got to the inters by making it to last seasons 4v4 Open Finals, losing to team-envision.
Team .ki^ hopes to take home their first championship this season, but there are quite a few contenders this season. Teams like {KNIGHTS}, -ENE., NATO_, -10th., and Redemption all have shots at the finals. We're going to go with {KNIGHTS} as the favorite to take it all, due to their record.
Team redemption:
This 4v4 season is team Redemption's first league. Redemption is a fairly new team, which was formed in February '06. However, most of our members have been in competition before Redemption's time. Our team has participated in two CAL-O seasons, which motivated us to reform a new team specifically for competition. Redemption made it to the Inters by performing well on Teamwarfares ladders and CALs Main Season. About a month ago we won against team overRated on Urban assault for the #1 spot in the 4v4 Objective ladder.
We would say .ki^ will win Escort, but for Ambush it's tougher to decide. {KNIGHTS} has played well, so well go with them, but .ki^ will win the finals. They have the strongest lineup, most active team, and the best strats out of anyone in the inters. This recipe will set them up for success and they are a good bunch of guys.
Team G^ods unwanted C.hildren:
This is our first season with TWL and to be honest we had expected to be placed in the Open League, but I guess our progress in the 4v4 ladder warranted us an inters spot. So far the season has proven to be quite challenging for us. (For example,) we are in the same division as .ki^ and Redemption, both of whom have been very hot lately. Wins have been hard to come by. We decided early on that our main priority was going to be CAL and unfortunately we haven't had much time to prep for our TWL matches, which is shown by our 2-3 record. Once the CAL playoffs come to a close, hopefully, we will be able to move up the standings a bit. Team G^uC is composed of only five members. All of us live in the same town and are friends outside of the game as well. I feel that this works to our advantage and helps keep a consistent smaller roster. Being real-life friends eliminates all the drama, which can sometimes bring a clan down. Having only played a few seasons of competitive AA, we are still learning. We have come a long way and the biggest thing we still need to work on is working together as a team.
We think team .ki^ and -ENE. will be the two teams to make it to finals. Having played .ki^ several times, we know firsthand what they are capable of and if they keep it up I would be very surprised if they didn't make it. Although they are in a bit of a slump lately, -ENE. has the experience and if they can pull it together the rest of the season, I feel they have a good chance of making it to the finals. As for the winner, our prediction is .ki^ simply because they have been undefeated so far in both TWL-Inter and CAL-M this season.
Team -10th. Airborne 10th Clan.us:
10th is pretty solid; we've been working hard getting competitive ever since October of 2005. We were put into Inters the second week of this NA League after admins saw that we were at the Intermediate Competitive Level. When we started CAL-O we thought it would be a fair game to the playoffs, which we did make, but not as good as we planned. Just recently we had a few weeks where half of our roster was inactive, which hit us hard with some losses that should have been victories. Through all the trouble we've gone through, we still had the dedication and determination to keep winning in our Inters league, bringing home our latest victories against pretty good teams. We plan on remaining strong and continue the positive progress we've been making here in 10th.
Looking at the Intermediate League we predict .ki^ will go to the finals. Who will go against them is very hard to determine because everyone under .ki^ looks equal. Team 10th will say {KNIGHTS} for their 5-1 record. Personally, we've matched against .ki^ you don't know how good a clan is until you've matched them . .ki^ has the players, practice, confidence, and dedication to win any match. We see them winning the championship.
Red Division
Team Red Dawn:
Red Dawn is suffering from some serious problems with inactivity. Were hoping that a decent season may encourage a few people to apply. That being said, weve got a few individuals that are committed to seeing this season through. We are hoping to make the playoffs and maybe take a stab at the finals. Although were not anticipating a championship match, were hoping to prove that RD still has breath left in it.
We expect to see {KNIGHTS} and .ki^ in the championships. Without knowing the map, it's hard to say who will win. It'll be a close match: 7-5 probably. If it's CQB, {KNIGHTS} would probably lose to .ki^. If it's outdoor, {KNIGHTS} have a pretty good shot at winning it.
Team finishing t.ouch:
Overall, we have had a hard time with matches lately due to our decline of active players. It is our first season together and we joined the league because we felt that we could handle the competition in the Opens with the 4-6 members that we have. Not too long ago, many teams experienced this problem called "2.7," and we experienced the same; while creating a new team, people went away for months because of school or just on vacation. Our roster became even smaller and then we found ourselves down to about 4-5 players that could play for pre-season. Due to so many teams dying with 2.7, the high demand for inter teams caused hyper to force us up. We had no problem with this and told him that we would finish out the season even if we went 0-10. Here we are with our chins up high in week 7 and ranked #2 in our division. We were #1, but Red Dawn played their sixth match... we didn't yet. Now we hope to make the playoffs and maybe pull some upset wins until we get our stuff together for next season.
We think the finals will be something like .ki^ vs {KNIGHTS}. It seems that they both have time to practice, and we know that .ki^ has a large experienced roster to work with. As for who will win, its just way too early to predict; countless numbers of teams will die before playoffs or after by not making the playoffs.
Team)(-Protect and S-)(erve:
Protect and Serve is a longtime America's Army clan composed of skilled match-experienced players and a genius video production team. PaS has been around for three years dating back to the pipe whoring days and it's still going strong as we begin to expand our horizons and take on new leagues and new opponents. So far this season has been great to us and hopefully we can pick up a few more wins along the way.
As the season rolls on, names like .ki^, Redemption, and {KNIGHTS} come to mind as being capable of going to the finals. Who will win the finals? I'd love to see .ki^ take it this year. They are an excellent group with great teamwork and outstanding shots.
Team [1st Special Operations G]roup, Black Wolves Company:
This has been a very rough season for us so far. We are having a lot of trouble getting enough people together for even a 4v4 match. Just this last week we had to play a man down against Red Dawn on Bridge, and forfeit the make up match on Woodland Outpost. Our short term goal is to get more people active again. We also haven't had a good amount of practice together in a long while, so our teamwork has degraded recently. However, I think things are going to start getting better soon.
We think .ki^ and -ENE. have a good chance of making it to the finals. .ki^ has been very strong recently, and even though -ENE. has had some recent hiccups, they are still a tough team.
Conclusion:
As fierce as the competition is, at least one of these teams will proceed to the Invite League. Others, like the fable of the phoenix, will burn to the ground, transposing into more strength for the next season.
Certainly, by Getting to Know the Intermediate League, some light has been shed. As the league stands, the competition within each division is neck and neck. Only three weeks remain before the playoffs; upsets are inevitable, which leaves no room for mistakes.
Once again, I would like to thank each team for participating in this write-up. A warm congratulations and the best of success is wished to all.
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Post edited by LadyBay_{KNIGHTS} at 11/12/2006 4:26:08 PM