Review Masters of the Sword CLAN Grand Final: Penguins vs Peppers

[Jaaames 1,622]

 

Hello Tankers! Recently we had the latest installation of the Masters of the Sword clans category. Everybody was eager to find out who'd be crowned the true Masters of the Sword and receive the special "Impulse" paint. After an interesting and eventful group stage and playoff stage, we were eventually left with Peppers and Penguins, two of the most promising clans we've seen this year. We were expecting a top quality Grand Final, and boy did we get one!

 

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If you missed the live match, below is a recording of the stream, as well as a short text review of the events. Enjoy!

 

 

The Grand Final took the structure of seven rounds, each in a different map decided by the cross-out method. It would have been safe to say that an edgy start would occur, which it did. The opening two rounds didn't see a single capture in the maps Red Alert and Bridges showing neither team wanted to make the first mistake. The defense of both Peppers and Penguins was very sound with scoreless rounds at this stage, showing what a good job both teams were doing in the Grand Final.

 

 

We eventually saw an opening for Penguins in the third round, played on the map Forest. This round started like the previous two rounds; very tight, not many attacks coming from either team. However, with five minutes left on the clock, @Lankbouv made a very smooth capture after a great bit of team play, catching Peppers slightly off-guard. Two minutes later, Penguins were finally getting into their stride with @I.z.I making great use of the Double Armour and Nitro with his BP and bringing the flag back close to their base, which again was captured by @Lankbouv after he picked up the pieces from another solid attack for 2-0. There was a late attempt at a comeback for Peppers as they captured a flag to make it 2-1. But with less than a minute remaining and no drops available, we saw Penguins win the third round.

 

 

The fourth round was held in Barda and where we witnessed the best capture of the match so far. , on full drops (who did a phenomenal job of controlling the triple of Double Armour, Double Power and Nitro on the blue base every single time) did well to pull the flag from the Peppers base. @Ne_T brought the flag even further, all while other members of Penguins were scrambling across the map to prevent a Peppers counter-attack. @I.z.I picked up the flag right in the base after plenty of scuffles and hard focus for around 30 seconds from Peppers, and went on to finally capture. The score of this fourth round ended 1-0 to Penguins, meaning they were very close to clinching the title.

 

 

Round five was played in Solikamsk, a very large map and tough to play due to the sheer size and number of drops to keep track of. If Penguins would win this fifth round, it would seal the 3-0 victory for them, as Peppers mathematically wouldn't be able to come back with only two available rounds left. We afterwards saw Peppers cracked under the pressure. @SecretDream captured for Penguins on the rare occasion of the Peppers defense being ripped apart, making the score in this round 1-0. Penguins maintained their defense of the small lead well through to the end, ultimately rewarding them with victory of round five and of the match, winning 3-0 overall.

 

Congratulations to Penguins on winning first place in Masters of the Sword.

 

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After the match, I had the chance to interview a familiar face to the Masters of the Sword scene, @Lankbouv. No doubt one of, if not the most successful eSports player we have seen in our community. He gave me an insight as to how he became involved with Penguins and then finally winning the top prize in Masters of the Sword with them, a feat which eluded him for so long.

 

@Lankbouv, first and foremost, congratulations to yourself and Penguins. You've now become the first English community clan to go all the way obtain victory in the Masters of the Sword and to secure the top prize of Impulse paint. Let's start with the run-up to this years Masters of the Sword. Tell us about your personal clan motives, were you actively looking for a clan to further your eSports achievements? 

 

I guess I was looking for a way back into eSports after what happened in Domination Series 2, and after we tried to re-open All Kind, which failed, I searched for a new clan. I joined Invincible for a month but decided that Penguins would be a better option partly because of them speaking English and also I thought the players there had more potential than Invincible to win an XP/BP tournament. I can't say I got many offers to join clans aside from the above two, I've been linked with others in private, but I can't mention them, so Penguins was the choice I went with. I remember asking @FinalStage before joining whether he'd let his friends play or the best players play, come match day. He answered that he would choose the best, and I liked that, and I knew here was a clan I could work hard and succeed with, and it was down to me and not any friendships players had with a leader to get into the main team.

 

Very interesting! So, you joined Penguins within the last year. A lot of new players were recruited at the same time, did you think that this newer group of players would be able to instantly compete against the top forces of Synergy, etc? 

 

Ironically, we always said we could win top 3 in MOS, right since almost the start, not making it up! But to be honest, I don't think any of us dreamed we'd actually win it. 

 

If you were strong at that stage, when, or how did it really click that you guys really could compete at the highest level and be a top 3 clan for example?

 

It was after winning four Blitzes in a row, after which we flopped for the rest of the Blitz, qualifying out of the top 8 for MOS, but that was due to lack of training and issues with some players being inactive, but those sorted themselves out after a while, in time for MOS.

 

I'm pretty sure there was only one thing on your mind since the start of the Masters of the Sword campaign 2018 with Penguins, and that would've been to go all the way and win it. As many of us will remember, a couple years back, your old clan All Kind came so close and achieved runners-up after losing painfully in the grand final. Tell us about your feelings after winning this time around, and also give us an explanation as to what was different with Penguins compared to All Kind in the Grand Final?

 

An intriguing question that I feel is not easy to answer. The differences between MOS #1 and #3 are huge, not least the lack of losers bracket in #1, or the fact that the final of #1 was on just a single map, or the fact that we felt Arm Power had an unfair advantage in that final due to, what we felt were hacks. It's too long after that to say I learned any lessons from it, and everything has changed so much to be honest since then, and all the players in #3 were different from those in AK except me. For sure though, winning MOS was a big aim for me.

 

I'm glad you got the opportunity to finally achieve the aim. In the tournament with Penguins specifically, what was needed in order to go all the way to win such a top-profile championship?

 

Training was most important, notably we didn't train before our loss against Peppers in the upper bracket, but did before our win in the Grand Final against them. We needed a good mentality. We always lost the third round for many matches, because we assumed psychologically we'd won after 2 rounds. Stuff like that was crucial. We always play the best in first rounds, ironically this all changed, at least for me, in the Grand Final where I was nervous (yes I still get extremely nervous) for the first round and then we won the last three rounds, and my nerves had vanished. An important thing to remember is always that your opponents (such as dark horses DejaVu) deserve to be there, so don't underestimate them, and you yourselves also deserve to be there, so don't underestimate yourselves.

 

Great advice there. As a team, you showed all how you overcame many of the top clans to reach the Grand Final vs Peppers, a very experienced side. You must have been sick of the sight of Peppers, having played them so many times since being put in the same group for the group stage. Did the number of games you played against them have any effect on the grand final?

 

Due to the way crossing works (Host/Guest), when we played them first time in the playoffs they had more red sides, and so crossing out was better for us in Grand Final, as we had more maps on red side (Red Alert and Solikamsk where red is better), but also we realised throughout the tournament that we were phenomenal in Bridges blue side (the infamous side), and our principles of heavily pushing to their drops paid off. Also, rounds in Parma (Penguins' famous best map), always felt the easiest in every match. We also beat peppers twice in group stage, but they had not added their great transfers @Force and @Kenya at that point, so it didn't mean much.

 

Now you've pretty much won the lot in terms of special paints in eSports with clans, with this new addition of Impulse to the trophy cabinet. What are your future ambitions in the game now? Will you continue to competitively fight for more?

 

Future ambitions? I want someone to give me my veteran back. I think I deserve it. Enough said.

 

Nobody can argue what you've achieved and the positivity you've spread on eSports in this community. Thank you for your time, and again, a massive congratulations on winning MOS, all the best for the future!

 

[Flexoo 6,980]

Huge congratulations to Penguins! Jaaames brings you an interesting overview of their recent victory in the Grand Final of Masters of the Sword tournament. Don't miss the interview with @Lankbouv who tells more about his experience and success with clan Penguins!

[Viking4s 10,791]

Congratulations to Penguins!

[gokuMI6 1,290]

At last mt dream came true , thank you Lank for bringing Impulse to our community

Congratulations Pengs

[GrandExecutioner 1,403]

Well done Lank and Pinguins!

[Example 103]

Congratulations Pengs!

[Hex 11,520]

Congratulations!

[Best_of_thunder_2015 1,354]

Club penguin is back!! finally :P

[Total_SkiIl 1,983]

Look how far EN eSports have come.

[LUCIFER1_the_dark 1,230]

Well done Pengs!

 

EN esports has a great future ahead.

[Destrod 2,634]

Congratulations to Penguins for flapping their way to victory! I hope this marks the beginning of a new era in EN eSports!

 

 

 

 

 

[gokuMI6 1,290]

Now it is my time to get Impulse 

 

 

After 2-3 years when all the pro's have gone

;)

No , Good luck to all E-sports dreamer's , and to me

This achievement & International championship , have shown me EN can win

 

 

Edited May 30, 2018 by gokuMI6

[Commander_Rose 327]

gg pengs

[hishamyas 364]

Congrtas pengs, you guys deserve it

[iMoneyMaker 4,500]

Cg Kings!

[Winters 214]

My favourite animal won  :wub:  :wub:

[pro_guy 553]

My favourite animal won  :wub:  :wub:

ye... a penguin has beaten a pepper, it's logic :P

[F.I.N.I.S.H.E.R 2,397]

Well presented :)

[hogree 4,179]

smashed it lank keep on murking  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:

[Pseudonym 1,157]

[FTW 240]

That's impressive, congratulations!

[Showbot 819]

Governor is bae xd