Essays for university :(

Great one Spy :)

Interesting read. I hope this tournament lives up to the hype.

Excited for the MU sale :P

Greetings fellow eSports enthusiasts! Hope you all are well, and welcome to the latest eSports advice guide: "The Art of Attack"! Have you ever wanted to annihilate that defence just like Saint-Hov, or Fer-Legend, to name only a couple? This article will cover all you need to know about attacking in your favourite format. Do not look any further, as here you will learn the tricks of the trade, and the most efficient way of bringing that flag back home, to lead your team to victory. So, to start, this multi-part guide will cover the principles of attack in the XP/BP format only, solely because XP/BP is a favourite among all the eSports fans, as well as being the most simple, especially for the ease of just being able to jump straight in and play. Don't get me wrong though, these tips can still be applied to Light format, as well as being applicable to the other formats out there too, so listen up! We've all heard that old military phrase: "The best defence is a good offence", but could this apply to Tanki Online? I think, it most definitely can, at least if your attackers are capturing more flags than your defence is letting go, it's easy as pie, right? Lets dive straight in and find out how it's done! The Fundamentals So what does taking on the role of an attacker involve? In my opinion, to have a successful attack, you must have three main fundamentals. Those would be: a. Solid drops control, b. Top-notch map knowledge/awareness, and c. Patience! I will always refer back to these three main points, as they are so important in all maps. Let's make our case study in this article the map "Bridges". I personally love this map, due to its dynamic gameplay, and the importance of overall map control and positional play. Also, in relation to this guide, the way one goes about attacking the enemy base is rather different on both sides of the map. The red side is considerably easier to maintain drops control than the blue side, because of how exposed the drop zones are to the enemy team, which results in an easy job for the campers. This guide will be split, with the first part educating you on my most effective way of attacking on the red side in this map: I'm on the red side, how do I go about penetrating the blue base? Picture this, you are in the midst of a fiery encounter with your envious rival clan in Tanki Online, you're currently neck and neck with the blue side, with only a few minutes until the conclusion of the match. What do you do in this situation? You'll need to capture flags. You've been having some difficulty breaking down that defence, evidently seen by the scoreline. Someone needs to step up to the plate and show their team how it's done. If we go back to what was mentioned slightly earlier about the three main fundamentals, the team will firstly need to get the drops in their favour. Let's assume the drops are timed well, and that all of your required drops are nicely linked. For example it's always good to have a double power falling whenever your attackers are sprinting back to base with the flag, to cover them. You also need ensure that the double armour is falling in perfect synchronisation (or near enough to perfect) to the speed boost. Speaking of which, these two drops, the double armour and speed boost are, our, the attackers, best friend. The repair kit is also useful, as always. but that can be used later, which I'll touch upon, as that's vital for the return to base. The drops are your best friend For now let's deal with those two key drops. The double armour and speed boost. For explanations sake, we'll have to assume the rest of your team knows what they are doing, knowing where to camp to support you, and to hold a defence while you attack to ensure there's no counter attack from the opposition. That makes you the dummy now right!? All jokes aside, now for the learning. As you can see in the picture below, our guinea pig, [member=A_Villain], is doing what he's learnt from all the professionals. He's been waiting patiently, for one of my key points, for both the double armour and the speed boost drops to fall. Once they have fallen in perfect synchronisation, that's his time to pounce. From taking the double armour through to jumping down to the speed boost, the attacker may incur some shots from the enemy defenders, especially when they see what he is on to. If need be, there is always that repair kit behind for safety (try not to take it), but the idea here, is to advance as quickly as possible once taking your drops, to maximise the output from them. Congratulations, you're succeeding in taking your required drops without suffering any damage, now, some more patience is required in order to then infiltrate the enemy base. You'll want to reach the foot of the ramp, leading into the blue team base. It's right here, you'll really need your wits in order to choose just the right moment to make a move and fly up the ramp. Camping behind the highlighted bridge pillar below is the most effective way to avoid being shot, as you'll find shots will soon be coming in from every direction. Campers on the middle island can see you, as well as advancing defenders. It's here you can rely on your trusty team-mates to make a distraction, as there's going to be a lot going on in the battle, giving you the go-ahead to ride on into the base. As you move away from your current cover underneath that handy bridge pillar, you can then relax (sort of), unless of course there are enemies sitting upon the flag. In that case, you'll need to hope you have a helping hand in the form of backup fire, or take them on duel-style. Remember, you have the drops still, so you have an advantage and taking the flag from this position should be a piece of cake, as long as you stay aware. Staying behind the large house for slightly longer than needed is no bad thing, thus you can confuse your enemy and make them assume there's nobody there. If the coast is still not clear, you can fire a few pop-shots from behind, as shown below, to make it easier for your team to clear up. Then, like a child around a cookie jar, you can snatch that flag and run back in to cover fast, with your drops still with half their duration left. The Return to Base Here comes your map awareness. It's now, more than ever you'll need to have your eyes looking in opposite directions as you make that descent back down to your side of the map. You have to know the major areas in which campers can shoot at you in order for them to return their flag. The main places they will occupy will be at this stage, the two long parallel bridges, perpendicular to the centre house, as well as behind the wall spots on the left and right side of their base. Your awareness plays a part here, where you need to have a solid idea of where you are going to drive, as well as keeping an eye on enraged defenders, hunting you down like a pack of wolves. The key advice is to always look behind you, back into the enemy base, as long as you trust your map knowledge (I used to say to my old clan members jokingly, semi-seriously: "If you can't drive back to base with your eyes closed, then you are of no use in my clan" :lol:). Remember, you (should) always have your team behind you, and you can count on them to clear your path, as well as take out exposed campers. Also, remember that repair kit? That will still be there, and, if you've timed your drops well enough, it can even be synchronised to fall just as you make your return. This will be incredibly useful now, especially as your double armour is now disappearing, and you'll need your health bar more than fish need the sea. Time to be the hero... It's now or never, life or death, you've made it this far in your mission to attack the flag, and now you're within touching distance of the finishing line. It's all textbook stuff now. In my opinion, and I am sure many other experienced eSports players will agree, there's only one thing that's best for you now. Make a dash for it, up the ramp into your base, always looking into the enemy side. At this point it should be too difficult for the enemies to make a return, since your defence should've held up any form of an opposing counter attack. If worst comes to worst, and you lose the flag due to an eagle-eyed shot from a camper deep into the heart of the blue base, you are in a spawning hotspot, and should be safe when one of your team members pick up the pieces. Obviously, as common sense, if you see enemies approaching on the opposite bridge, then clearly it'd be unwise to go out exposed with the flag and get shot, especially with no back up, should you ever find yourself in that situation. The best option is to wait it out, just in any scenario in this format and map especially, as patience never hurt anybody. The horizons will clear, and you can flourish, finally bringing that flag home and becoming the saviour that you only dreamt you'd ever be. Thank you so much for reading! I hope this guide helped give an insight into the basics of attacking in an eSports format setting. The blue side of this map will be answered soon, as well as new guides covering more maps in the future. Stay tuned!

Cheers for the appreciation guys!

Welcome eSports enthusiasts! With the recent news of a clan tournament for the English clans only, the excitement can really be felt. For a large amount of time, our community had been longing for a clan tournament of its own. The German and Russian communities both have their own tournaments with very tasty prizes, and so it only seemed fair that we could have our taste of the action, considering this community is the second largest in the game. Within the time period of the last ranking cups several months ago until now among the English leagues, activity within clans has plummeted and are in need of a spark to re-ignite the action. This upcoming tournament will for sure be the answer. A lot of the current English clans have never had a chance to play a tournament with such big status and prize, which has sort of caught them off guard. That leads us to the question: How do you prepare for a major clan tournament? This article will involve me giving the best explanation possible, from my own experience of recruitment and clan training, as well as asking some of the best in the game how it's done. Enjoy! Recruiting before the tournament To start off, you obviously can't play a tournament without active members in a clan. The chances are, to get to where you are right now as a clan, you must've been active at some point, but 90% of all clans go through a moderate inactive phase when there's no tournaments to play. Clans and their members have the habit of only being active when there are important games around the corner. Most of the time, this is not the correct way to go about clan eSports. The key right before any major tournament is to ensure you have a fully active squad AT LEAST a month before playing the tournament and to stick to a regular training routine, which I'll mention later on. If we assume you're a leader of a clan with a half active member list, just like essentially most of the Top and Second League clans in the English community. You'll definitely need to add reinforcements with a tournament approaching, at least one or two transfer windows in advance. You may ask how is the best way to recruiting players that will benefit your team greatly? To be honest, there's no easy way, and the only way is quite exhausting but overall worth it for the results. I spoke to a popular clan leader @Lankbouv, of the very successful clan "All Kind" who won lots in their time, about recruiting players. Here's what he had to say: "Recruiting players is one of the hardest tasks I've ever done in my life. You must never let anyone strong-arm you into taking them, they only cause trouble. Similarly, never take players who come as a package with another player. I have never ever seen such players work out well with a clan. Of course their skill is important, but so is their attitude. Always test a player for a month: often they'll train for the first week but then go inactive. That's why getting players way before a tournament is necessary, so you test their commitment." These words are absolutely true. It may seem easier at first thought to straight away take in members that want to be in your clan, but the real thing is to think about the long run. Will this member really stay active and commit to the clan? If you look at the top clans of the past and present, the squads have remained pretty similar over the past years, and have solidly relied upon at least five or six regular members. This is solely due to the fact that they've taken their time over who they choose to be in the clan, because on top of skill it's always about consistency and clan loyalty. To find players for your clan any point before a tournament, often they will gravitate towards you naturally, and they can be tested when you get suitable applicants. A lot of the time you will also have to search a little more outside the box when recruiting. You should usually look for players you see online every day, as well as having high skill and knowledge in every format. Having a good team attitude is very important and ensuring that their head is not bigger than the clan, so to speak. Like stated before, testing rather in advance of the tournament will help a bunch in this field, and the upcoming tournament itself, shall act as natural motivation for players wanting to train on a regular basis. Addressing Training and an Initial Training Routine Why is a strict training routine necessary so early on? The reason is quite self-explanatory and simple. You need to allow yourself enough time to get used to playing as a team together again and build better chemistry, as well as seeing where your strong and weak points are in different formats and maps. Leave this too late, and unfortunately it's near impossible to gain good results. Now you have active and willing members, It's time to get into a strict training routine before the wake of the tournament. Like mentioned before about starting things early, it's vitally important to have this up and running at least a month or two in advance. @Lankbouv again gives some advice on training your squad for a tournament: "I think that when preparing for a big tournament, the earlier you can start training with your players the better, but the most important thing is having a main team in your mind and making sure they gel together during the tournament. An example I use is MOS season 1 when our main team was formed just before the tournament and we played together the whole way through it. Yes it won't always work, but the point I'm making is that gelling together as a team is crucial." A very good idea mentioned there, having a specific idea of which members you shall include in your main team. This makes it easier to make the necessary tweeks if needed, if you spot something that doesn't quite work with that team in a training match. I always suggest, when there's plenty of time before a tournament, to start training in the XP BP format in the initial days of having a full squad. This is because it's the easiest to set up, and the elements are relatively simple. It gives clan leaders a chance to observe their selected team in a clear manner and see which positions suit which players the most and actually test to see if the players they had in mind really do gel together. Once you've established this, then, as a team, you can discuss which formats may need the most work once you start adding these into the daily training system. Each format usually should be given the same amount of attention, though. In terms of choosing the maps to train in, you should focus on as wide a range of map style and size as possible before you know the maps and formats that will be included in the official announcement. To give only one example from endless possibilities, you could train in both the maps "Barda" and "Red Alert" because they are two contrasting maps, but can be played in the same format. With "Barda", for example you can practice your tactics in standoff situations with the flag, as that's very common in that map. In "Red Alert" you can practice fast counter attacking as that map usually has fast paced end-to end gameplay. By doing so, you'll be prepared for anything, as each map has so many different gameplay elements, as well as some characteristics being relatively similar amongst them. By learning many of the maps as a clan beforehand, you can learn important things such as drop zones and drop timings, camping spots, routes for the flag and so on. Come the time of the tournament, you'll have these in your head and will definitely have the edge over the opponent in battle. Closer to the tournament, in the official announcement, you will be given an idea as to what maps and formats will be played and those specific maps and formats will be focused upon. What will help, is your prior knowledge of the maps you trained beforehand and your inside knowledge of specific gameplay elements, such as what to do in a flag standoff, for example. This will make training in the official maps and formats of the tournament much more to the point, having a good idea of fundamentals. Establishing Your Main Team @Lankbouv's idea mentioned before about having a specific first team in mind for a tournament is effective, but more often than not, especially with a new group of players, you may have no choice but to chop and change your first team a lot throughout the initial training sessions with your team. I spoke to , from "Biological Hazard", on his opinion on selecting a main team, in all circumstances: "Finding the main squad is very tricky. Each player has their own values and experiences in different maps and formats as well - which you must take into account. You would want to use the players who are better equipped to play in those maps and formats based on this. This can take days or even weeks. However it's most prominent after months of playing with the same team to build the chemistry and team spirit. Losing in a training session is never a bad thing, since you always learn from mistakes. The worst possible thing to do upon losing or feeling unsure of the outcome is to feel utter disappointment before the end, and afterwards. Keeping calm as a team is the best possible thing to do." His idea is a wise approach, whereby understanding each and every player's abilities in certain maps and formats is the most important thing. This approach will enable you to have the most diverse squad. By retaining calmness after a tough day of training, it keeps the team morale up, which will only improve as time goes on. When looking at your whole team, seeing who fits in well with each other, it's important to take into account a couple of factors. You have to look at the overall awareness of each player during training. Do they all know where they are at every point in the map? Do they know when to push as a single unit? This will partly come down to communication, which all serious clans much use, but to have the instinctive awareness in a group of players is always a bonus to look out for when choosing a team. Hinting upon an idea mentioned briefly before, the sooner the main squad is established, the better, so you can train as constantly as possible building a good momentum in the run-up to a tournament. @LB-12, the leader of "Biological Hazard" gives some further advice on finding a main team and even further improving them. He told me more on whether individual skill is really as significant in a team as one may think, as well as gaining team momentum as a whole: "When to start training for a tournament depends on the skill level of the clan. The team should play as much as possible with each other but each clan can decide this individually. When you set goals you should do everything possible to achieve them, even if it means training every day. Every clan has their best players but the whole team should be at the same level, so everyone can play. The team is only as strong as its weakest player." Here, @LB-12 implies an interesting idea, being that every clan member should be equal. Supposedly in this regard, it makes you a sterner clan leader, being able to narrow down clan applicants to really talented ones, so all of the members, in theory, should have such a high skill level, and especially being able to combine together and make one tough unit. Imply this knowledge, and you really can't go wrong in obtaining and fine-tuning your arsenal. In summary, the most important thing with clan tournament preparation is to make sure you start recruitment and training as early on as possible and don't leave it to the last minute. Be patient with recruiting members, don't rush into it, and keep an incredibly consistent training regime. Follow all the points, and you'll see the positive results kick in. A special thanks to @Lankbouv, and @LB-12 for providing such invaluable advice to help the community out. I hope this brief guide assisted you with making decisions before the English clan tournament, and you can take these points on board to use in future competitions. Good luck on the battlefield!

Nice :)

Nice one :)

Conveniently summarised Spy, I like it :)

Nice Spy, good luck :)

Nicely done :)

Good summary of the livestream :)

I also encounter the problem involving the flag messages in CTF

Looks like fun :)

Thank you guys!

Cheers guys!

As much as I want to describe what happened in a battle, my aim here was not only to give a description, but give explanations as to why certain things happened throughout the course of the game. I'd still recommend you watch the stream though, as you may pick up on things that I have not! :)

Recently, I had the great pleasure to interview one of the top eSports players of the past year, @Gothic, who also currently plays in the top clan, Synergy. After rising up rapidly through the ranks of the top eSports names, he obtained many achievements including the paints Gladiator, Bronze, Champion and Impulse. Read on to find out how this was possible, and how ultimately this resulted in him being included in the top five list of eSports players at the end of 2017. Enjoy! Hey there, @Gothic, and thank you for taking the time to chat about your eSports experience! Let's start at the beginning, with that cliché question: how did you discover Tanki Online? Hello @Jaaames! Well, it was actually relatively recently compared to other top players. A standard situation in 2014 where my close friend invited me to play the game, and now the rest is history! What sparked your initial interest for eSports? When I began playing, I was aware of some very cool tournaments which were constantly happening, but in all honesty, I wasn't ready to participate. Soon after though, the start of my eSports pathway was carved by StarLadder. By that time, I'd practiced a lot with Railgun and was ready to compete. Have you always played Tanki Online on a constant basis since joining, or have you left the game for a while for any particular reason? I, like many players lost much interest in the game due to the departure of StarLadder from Tanki Online. It was simple: no tournaments = no interest to play anymore. Upon swiftly making a comeback to this game, what would you say is your biggest eSports achievement to date? It's a tough one because there's a few to choose from. For me it's probably between winning the Master of Swords Tandem with @Makxxe, as well as being included in the top five list of eSports players for 2017 after winning Clan Championship X with Synergy. That makes me very proud. Speaking of you winning the MoS, how was your experience last year in the Tandem competition with @Makxxe, did you learn anything new? What did it feel like to win the newly introduced Impulse paint? Winning this kind of tournament was just wonderful. For my opportunity, I partly have to thank the player who had to pull out, and I was given a chance to prove myself. I honestly felt we might not have won if he played. I felt full of confidence. In general, for the Tandem @Makxxe and I had extremely good teamwork. We trained really hard to achieve this, so overall it was an exhausting, but very rewarding experience. Since winning the MoS Tandem, you are regarded as one of the best duo players. Is there any advice you'd give to others to become great tandem players themselves? The thing which is most vital in duos is to not only think for yourself, but to always look out for your teammate. It's also important that you know the map inside-out and ensure you have good self control. Of course training is also vitally important, like I stated before. How does one make it to the highest stage like yourself? I do not consider myself an outstanding player, but to play well you need to play all the time, as well as gain experience of playing in many situations. Also, you must be able to control your nerves and be confident whenever you play and eventually with persistence you will get there. Before joining Synergy, which we'll touch upon in a second, what achievements did you have prior that helped you on your way? Not too many to be honest, although the achievement that really gave me a boost was winning the Gladiator and Bronze paints from Clan Championship IX with Eternity How exactly did you join the double champion winning clan, Synergy? For Synergy, my old friend @Makxxe invited me, along with @Dynamite who also knew I was a player with high potential. I was a member of Eternity previously as you heard, but I unfortunately fell out with a number of players there. Today though, most of the issues are resolved, as a few former Eternity players actually play for Synergy. In Synergy I won the Champion paint, one of my best memories now. Winning the Champion paint is an extraordinary achievement! How exactly did you guys make it to the end, and what was the key to success in the Grand Final itself? The path initially was very difficult. In the group stage after three matches we were bottom of the table, having not taken a single win. At this point, everybody was sure we'd be out of the competition. Fortunately, after a great show of courage from my teammates (I did not play due to internet issues), me managed to emerge from the group with our very motivated team. As for the Grand Final itself, we took a loss to Vavilon in the first round, but we came back and truly showed our Champion game. A great choice of maps and combinations for us determined the outcome of the game, and we played our best. Tell me what it's like to play under such an amazing leader like @Dynamite? He has extreme confidence. He is great at commanding the team and as a result it makes him a good team leader and coordinator in battles. @Dynamite is currently the best captain in the game. Nobody can argue that. What is your favored position in clan battles? I am a defender at heart. I am a much weaker attacker, but I'm trying to improve that too. I used to also play Smoky in Light Format, but because I experienced some PING and FPS issues, it's now a little too risky to play that position. Why is defending so important? You just simply can't play without defenders. The first rule of a clan in eSports is to have your flag protected. In order to do this you must master the art of being calm. Any mistake, and you will lose the flag. It's vital for the team as a whole, but in a sense just as important as attack, in a different way. What is the biggest regret of your eSports career, are there any missed opportunities that haunt you at all? With joy, I can say that with my choices of clans, I haven't made any mistakes. Perhaps my only error would be starting this game much later than others, so having less experience. Is there anything you still dream to achieve in this game? Any specific tournament you wish to play again? I plan to win the MoS Tandem again, and then hopefully obtain the Veteran paint. Brilliant stuff, it's always great seeing a desire to keep on winning. That brings us to the end of this interview. Again, a massive thank you for telling me all about how you became one of eSport's finest, and good luck! Thank you, same goes to you too! Prize paints won by @Gothic

Gone but not forgotten, the countless hours I would spend watching Teletubbies as a young lad, I will always cherish the great moments I had watching this show and Tinky Winky.

Thanks everybody!

Only spoke to him once or twice, and like everyone says, he was such a nice and humble guy who put others before himself in the community. Rest in Peace Jack.

That edit tho! Good job guys :)

Congratulations on the win yesterday guys!