I decided to take a page out of Tarsiz’s book and write a prologue for the TeTe Invitational 3v3 tournament. With 5 top teams fighting it out over 10 days in a league format, this tournament promises to provide top-notch entertainment during this quarantine period. This is also the first team game tournament since Rise to Glory in October 2019. I will try my best to acquaint you with the maps of the tournament and go over the contenders.
African Waters: This map is a combination of Border Dispute and Cross. Players spawn very close to each other in the centre of the map and will have to fight over elephants for food in the dark age. Small lakes in the corners of the map have plenty of fish and will be fought over as well. I expect this map to produce short, but action-packed games. The four corner ponds are always visible to all players from the start.
Aztlan: An open but wallable map. Players start with small berry bushes close to their town centers and very little gold and no stone, however there is plenty of gold and stone in each corner of the map, but players will have to cut through a small forest to gain access to it. The corners are also visible to all players from the start. There is a cluster of shore fish in the centre as well, making it very favourable for Indians.
Desert Slope: Players start with on a hill with only 4 sheep and berries and will have to fight over food as there is a lot of hunt in the centre of the map. However, there is no stone in the centre area of the map. Players will have to cut through a ring of wood to gain access to stone and more gold as the game progresses. Games played on this map will be action-packed from the very beginning.
Forest Pond: A love child of Hideout and Mediterranean. Players start with their bases secured by palisade walls. A lake in the centre is a good source of fish and an important strategic point in the map and will be fought over for control.
Holy Crest: Players start with a monastery and a monk and a horse instead of the scout. They start with safe bases, an open ring of rocks around their bases, which can be walled-off quite easily. However, players will have to move outside the ring to gain access to wood, gold and stone. There are a lot of relics in the centre of the map, which players can start taking from the dark age, making it a haven for Aztecs and Lithuanians.
Edit: This map has been removed from the map pool.
Kawasan: Players start with standard resources. There are small ponds with fish between every pair of players, making the pocket ponds safer for fishing, whereas the flank ponds will have to be contested. There is also a cluster of berries and some relics in the centre of the map.
Khamsin: This map is very open, with players starting quite close to each other and a hill with increasing gradient between the players – a perfect recipe for very aggressive games, where the action starts very early. Players will eventually have to expand for resources since they are scarce around their bases. There are also small patches of shore fish spread around the map.
Lost Island: This map is a combination of Decentring and Migration. Players start without a town center on small islands and have the choice to transport to either the centre island of the map which is rich with wood, gold and berries or the outer ring, which is rich with wood, gold, stone and hunt. Games will be slow to begin with, but will be quite action-packed as the game progresses, with fights on the centre island, water and the outer ring.
Monocle: Players start close to each other in a crater surrounded by patches of shore fish. There is a lot of wood in the crater, but gold is scarce and stone is absent. Players will have to expand outside the crater to gain access to gold and stone.
Shelter: This is my personal favourite map in the map pool. Players start with safe bases in pockets of a huge forest in the centre of the map. Small patches of gold and stone are scattered around the map, and will have to be fought over. There is also plenty of shore fish along the edges of the map.
Sinkhole: This map is very similar to Mediterranean, with a lake full of fish in the centre. The difference is that the central lake is surrounded by sand terrain, on which ships can pass, making water strategically important.
Adventure: Players start on small islands with a transport ship and scarce resources. These islands are connected to the mainland, where gold and stone is plentiful, but wood is still scarce. Players will have to transport across to the outer ring for a reliable source of wood.
The Teams
Team Secret:
TheViper,
TaToH,,
DauT,
Nili_AoE ,
slam(?)
Like pretty much any team game event, Team Secret are the favourites to go all the way in this tournament. While they have Viper, whom everyone would agree is the undisputed #1, and DauT, who has loads of experience playing the game, the key player for Team Secret, in my opinion, is TaToH. He can fill in any role that is demanded of him – be it flank, pocket or an overall support role, with him helping his teammates dominate while being as annoying as possible to their opponents. Another question that this tournament will potentially answer, is what Nili brings to the table in Team Secret. They came up with dominant strategies during ECL and BoA. Considering the nature of the maps, and the fact that no one knows the meta on these maps, can Team Secret do that once again and take this one home?
Team Aftermath:
Liereyy,
Hera,
MbL,
Nicov
Team Aftermath arguably have the best roster when it comes to individual player skill, composed of four heavyweights. With Hera being quite dominant in the 1v1 scene at the moment and Liereyy, MbL and Nicov being as solid as ever, team Aftermath’s squad is looking better than ever, and there’s a good chance that they will finally lay their hands on team game tournament gold. Combined with Hera’s or Nicov’s flawless pocket gameplay, Liereyy’s formidable ranged unit control on the flank and MbL’s solid play style, Aftermath might be unbeatable on standard maps. What will be interesting to see, is how Aftermath adapt to the relatively unexplored maps in the map pool and whether or not they will be able to figure out the meta on these maps.
Team China:
Mr_Yo,
Vivi,
Lyx,
Paladin
Looking at their tournament record in the past, one cannot discount team China from the list of favourites. While most consider Vivi as an aggressive player, he is more than capable of filling in any role that the team would ask of him. Yo has always been their key player and is also in good shape at the moment. While Lyx isn’t shining on the 1v1 side of things, he is a surprise package in team games. Their biggest strength lies in their ability to play aggressive and chaotic games as well as silent, passive, macro-oriented games, and it will be interesting to see what approaches they employ on these unseen maps. They have several team game tournament wins in the past, namely Nations Cup and Clan Masters, but they have struggled to win the trophy in the recent past. Can they put their names on the winners’ list again?
Team Suomi:
TheMax,
Villese,
Zuppi,
Rubenstock
While their roster may not be the scariest when it comes to individual skill, team Suomi are workhorses and can put in hours of practice behind closed doors and come up with some out-of-the-box strategies that can catch their opponents off guard. Coupled with Max’s unparalleled pocket game play, their team communication and ability to take good fights together as a team makes them a treat to watch and has enabled them to pull-off several upsets, or near upsets in the past. And there’s also Rubenstock, who can create enough chaos on the map to destabilize the enemy team and let his teammates finish the job. Villese is in a better shape than ever. They have come very close to the cup on several occasions in the past, be it Nations Cup 2017, Battle of Africa or ECL. Can they finally go all the way this time?
Team VNA:
BacT,
ACCM,
sayymname,
CooL
While team VNA don’t brag about accolades when it comes to top-level tournaments, they have years of experience playing together, and cannot be left out in the list of contenders. BacT, ACCM and saymyname (formerly VNS_Yellow) have been playing together for as long as one can remember. While they may not be considered favourites to win the tournament, they most certainly have enough firepower to pull off an upset. Their versatile play styles enable them to fit into any role required. The main thing holding them back in the past has been not delivering during key moments, which all their players are certainly capable of. Can they overcome it and finally label the trophy with their names this time?
Tune in to your favourite caster tomorrow (Monday, 6th April) onwards, starting at 15 GMT!
The Maps
I took the screenshots on the WololoKingdoms version, as there is no function to take full map screenshots on DE yet. Some maps were not compatible with WK and hence I have used the mini map screenshot.
African Waters: This map is a combination of Border Dispute and Cross. Players spawn very close to each other in the centre of the map and will have to fight over elephants for food in the dark age. Small lakes in the corners of the map have plenty of fish and will be fought over as well. I expect this map to produce short, but action-packed games. The four corner ponds are always visible to all players from the start.
Aztlan: An open but wallable map. Players start with small berry bushes close to their town centers and very little gold and no stone, however there is plenty of gold and stone in each corner of the map, but players will have to cut through a small forest to gain access to it. The corners are also visible to all players from the start. There is a cluster of shore fish in the centre as well, making it very favourable for Indians.
Holy Crest: Players start with a monastery and a monk and a horse instead of the scout. They start with safe bases, an open ring of rocks around their bases, which can be walled-off quite easily. However, players will have to move outside the ring to gain access to wood, gold and stone. There are a lot of relics in the centre of the map, which players can start taking from the dark age, making it a haven for Aztecs and Lithuanians.
Edit: This map has been removed from the map pool.
Kawasan: Players start with standard resources. There are small ponds with fish between every pair of players, making the pocket ponds safer for fishing, whereas the flank ponds will have to be contested. There is also a cluster of berries and some relics in the centre of the map.
Khamsin: This map is very open, with players starting quite close to each other and a hill with increasing gradient between the players – a perfect recipe for very aggressive games, where the action starts very early. Players will eventually have to expand for resources since they are scarce around their bases. There are also small patches of shore fish spread around the map.
Lost Island: This map is a combination of Decentring and Migration. Players start without a town center on small islands and have the choice to transport to either the centre island of the map which is rich with wood, gold and berries or the outer ring, which is rich with wood, gold, stone and hunt. Games will be slow to begin with, but will be quite action-packed as the game progresses, with fights on the centre island, water and the outer ring.
Monocle: Players start close to each other in a crater surrounded by patches of shore fish. There is a lot of wood in the crater, but gold is scarce and stone is absent. Players will have to expand outside the crater to gain access to gold and stone.
Shelter: This is my personal favourite map in the map pool. Players start with safe bases in pockets of a huge forest in the centre of the map. Small patches of gold and stone are scattered around the map, and will have to be fought over. There is also plenty of shore fish along the edges of the map.
Sinkhole: This map is very similar to Mediterranean, with a lake full of fish in the centre. The difference is that the central lake is surrounded by sand terrain, on which ships can pass, making water strategically important.
The Teams
Team Secret:
Like pretty much any team game event, Team Secret are the favourites to go all the way in this tournament. While they have Viper, whom everyone would agree is the undisputed #1, and DauT, who has loads of experience playing the game, the key player for Team Secret, in my opinion, is TaToH. He can fill in any role that is demanded of him – be it flank, pocket or an overall support role, with him helping his teammates dominate while being as annoying as possible to their opponents. Another question that this tournament will potentially answer, is what Nili brings to the table in Team Secret. They came up with dominant strategies during ECL and BoA. Considering the nature of the maps, and the fact that no one knows the meta on these maps, can Team Secret do that once again and take this one home?
Team Aftermath:
Team Aftermath arguably have the best roster when it comes to individual player skill, composed of four heavyweights. With Hera being quite dominant in the 1v1 scene at the moment and Liereyy, MbL and Nicov being as solid as ever, team Aftermath’s squad is looking better than ever, and there’s a good chance that they will finally lay their hands on team game tournament gold. Combined with Hera’s or Nicov’s flawless pocket gameplay, Liereyy’s formidable ranged unit control on the flank and MbL’s solid play style, Aftermath might be unbeatable on standard maps. What will be interesting to see, is how Aftermath adapt to the relatively unexplored maps in the map pool and whether or not they will be able to figure out the meta on these maps.
Team China:
Looking at their tournament record in the past, one cannot discount team China from the list of favourites. While most consider Vivi as an aggressive player, he is more than capable of filling in any role that the team would ask of him. Yo has always been their key player and is also in good shape at the moment. While Lyx isn’t shining on the 1v1 side of things, he is a surprise package in team games. Their biggest strength lies in their ability to play aggressive and chaotic games as well as silent, passive, macro-oriented games, and it will be interesting to see what approaches they employ on these unseen maps. They have several team game tournament wins in the past, namely Nations Cup and Clan Masters, but they have struggled to win the trophy in the recent past. Can they put their names on the winners’ list again?
Team Suomi:
While their roster may not be the scariest when it comes to individual skill, team Suomi are workhorses and can put in hours of practice behind closed doors and come up with some out-of-the-box strategies that can catch their opponents off guard. Coupled with Max’s unparalleled pocket game play, their team communication and ability to take good fights together as a team makes them a treat to watch and has enabled them to pull-off several upsets, or near upsets in the past. And there’s also Rubenstock, who can create enough chaos on the map to destabilize the enemy team and let his teammates finish the job. Villese is in a better shape than ever. They have come very close to the cup on several occasions in the past, be it Nations Cup 2017, Battle of Africa or ECL. Can they finally go all the way this time?
Team VNA:
While team VNA don’t brag about accolades when it comes to top-level tournaments, they have years of experience playing together, and cannot be left out in the list of contenders. BacT, ACCM and saymyname (formerly VNS_Yellow) have been playing together for as long as one can remember. While they may not be considered favourites to win the tournament, they most certainly have enough firepower to pull off an upset. Their versatile play styles enable them to fit into any role required. The main thing holding them back in the past has been not delivering during key moments, which all their players are certainly capable of. Can they overcome it and finally label the trophy with their names this time?
Tune in to your favourite caster tomorrow (Monday, 6th April) onwards, starting at 15 GMT!
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