In the Crosshairs: ETQW Competition Round-up: Webisode 2: ClanBase Edition

I guess my last report didn’t offend anybody and was considered interesting enough to warrant a sequel so woot for me! Looks like I’ll be able to carry on doing this “interweb web-log-blogging” thing, bringing you round-ups of the various happenings in the Enemy Territory QUAKE Wars competition scene.

Actually truth be told I had the impression not much had happened these last few weeks, what with the last round of tournaments having recently been completed and the bulk of new ones just starting up. For a moment I thought I might struggle to find much news to bring you, but a quick check on the various cup and ladder websites soon made me realize that a large number of clan battles are still raging on, in fact I might struggle to fit all the news in!

Most interesting of the current events is the ClanBase Nations Cup. Unlike the majority of tournaments the Nations Cup is a little different as the competitors playing in it are representing their country instead of their usual clan. Sixteen nations from across Europe enter teams into the cup, each team is limited to fielding no more than three players from the same clan at any one time, meaning the Nations Cup truly tests the depth of talent of each country’s community as well as their ability to adapt and often most importantly to get along with each other.

The 16 teams entered were split into four groups of four teams in the first stage of the tournament, the top two from each group going on to the play-offs. There weren’t really any surprises at this stage, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Finland, Italy and the Netherlands all qualified, their line-ups largely consisting of players who currently play in the very best clans. In the quarter-finals the UK team comfortably beat Italy, possibly the weakest of the qualifying teams, and Sweden eased past Finland. On the other side of the bracket though things were a little closer as Poland brushed aside Denmark, a squad that was among the favorites for the cup early on with their strong mix of players taken from ETQW heavyweights Four Kings, Dignitas and Team Infinity. The Netherlands also provided what many would have seen as a shock as they beat Germany. The Dutch team contained a real mix of players from a range of clans at varied skill levels but appeared to gel together well.

In the semis the UK faced Sweden whilst the Polish team went up against the Dutch. The UK verses Sweden game was almost another chapter in what seems to be the endless string of head-to-head matches Four Kings and Epsilon eSports seem to be playing, with both Nations drawing the core of their players from these teams. This time the Swedes won out 4-2 in a close match that went to overtime on Volcano. This put them into the final against the Netherlands who beat the Poles 4-0 in the other semi-final. The grand final is scheduled to take place on Thursday 10th of April, keep an eye on ETQW.TV for possible coverage.

ClanBase have also just launched their other premier tournaments, EuroCup XVII and the OpenCup. The EuroCup has not always offered the highest reward as far as prizes go, nor is considered by everybody to be the most legitimate of events as it hasn’t always had LAN finals, but among the competition scenes of Europe’s most popular FPS games this is almost always seen as one of, if not the most prestigious tournament. Each year it draws the finest clans to play, guaranteeing a string of close and entertaining games as the very top teams in face off in a group stage and then play-offs. For this season’s ETQW tournament sixteen teams have been selected to battle it out, with Team Dignitas and Team Speedlink choosing not to enter the favorites would appear to be Four Kings and Epsilon eSports, although this could be an opportunity for one or two other teams to shine.

The EuroCup’s poorer but equally competitive cousin is the OpenCup. Using a similar format to the EuroCup the OpenCup is different in that any team can enter the tournament, meaning that whilst the elite are battling it out in the big leagues there is still a healthy chance for glory and close competition among other teams. The ETQW tournament in this seasons OpenCup has two divisions, each with 24 teams entered.

Elsewhere in Europe Four Kings and Epsilon eSports will be going up against each other again in the Live2Win ETQW Season 1 final tonight, whilst GameStar Liga has added ETQW to its roster for season 12, that competition having just recently started.

In the US season two of both the CAL and TGL Objective competitions are close to starting whilst the TGL’s 5v5 Infantry Ladder is just ending its regular season with Electric Sunshine Machine in first place with a perfect record, closely followed by FATE. Whilst I’m not an expert on the US clan scene I can tell you that the guys over there are awesome at updating the ETQW Community sites’ competition forum with match previews and ETQW.TV show times, so it’s well worth checking that stuff out!

Finally a brief nod in the direction of a cool little cup run recently that I spotted on the forums. Wingman, a 2 vs 2 aerial combat tournament run by theXc!amation has been going on the last few weeks and has just been won by community legend dommafia and team mate Backdraft11. Well done to everyone who played in the cup, seems like a nice change to the regular style tournaments… it’s just a shame I can’t fly or I would have entered! 🙁

Finally, feel free to blame badman and fluffy_gIMp for the terrible headline. If you’ve got a better idea for it, please sound off in the comments.

Have we missed your Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars tournament or competition? Let us know!