In an epic BO3 finals match, [/flag][b]Pandemic-TF2[/b] and [/flag][b]Complexity-TF2[/b] battled last night for the ESEA Season 2 TF2 crown. Pandemic came out on top with a win on cpgranary 5-3, a loss on cpbadlands 4-5, and a win on cp_gravelpit 2-1 ... only 2 weeks after winning CEVO-P TF2 Season 3.
Many within the community had predicted that Complexity would lose on cpgranary and possibly win on cpbadlands but few expected a repeat of Complexity's CEVO-P finals loss on cpgravelpit (a map that they are known for being the best at). Their subpar performance could possibly be attributed to REP's 13-28 cpgravelpit record or perhaps his sporadic screams heard from the in-game voice chat. SycknesS provided Complexity with 40 kills in 32 lives on cpgravelpit and Reptile maintained his consistent 1.5ish K:D ratio with 29 kills and 18 deaths. On the Pandemic side, all of the players maintained positive K:D ratios except for SoLIDSnaKE who came out strong on cpgranary's middle point to give Pandemic a boost on the first map.
One of the least publicized facts about Pandemic's TF2 team is the strength of their second scout, [/flag][b]enigma[/b]. He is frequently overshadowed by his partner, carnage, but plays a vital role. As such, I decided it would be good to interview him after the finals match:
Interview with enigma
[iq]You went 35-23 in the match playing Scout alongside carnage. Although you had fewer kills than carnage, your K:D ratio (1.52) was higher than his (1.29 with a 49-38 record). How do you think you played in the finals? What is it like playing with carnage? How well do you two communicate? In what situations could you guys have done better?[/iq]
[ia]Overall I think I played acceptably (except on granary, but thankfully my team picked up my slack). It’s definitely a lot less burdensome when you’re playing alongside the best scout in the game, but there are some problems too. Both of our playstyles are extremely aggressive and that causes some issues when we both rush in and die at the same time. We tend to operate more or less independently most of the time (which, I believe, was our main weakness against Complexity on badlands—oplaid and syckness stayed together almost the entire game) but occasionally coordinate flanks and pushes with each other.[/ia]
[iq]After the match, Pandemic's glue said "...we expected to lose a few points on cpgranary but we weren't worried..." Is this true? What was going through your mind when coL blew through the first round of cpgranary? What are Pandemic's general strategies (when playing coL) on cp_granary?[/iq]
[ia]We definitely expected to win granary but not without a fight, as we were sure they’d acknowledge their historical weakness on the map and attempt to fix their problems. The first round was somewhat of an eye opener for us but it also served as a good warm-up and reminder to play at our best. Overall we played a lot more technically and carefully against coL. than we would have normally.[/ia]
[iq]Complexity pulled out the 5-4 victory on cpbadlands. As a Scout, you have a very active role on this map yet the best Scout team in the world did not turn the tide of the map. What were the obstacles to winning on cpbadlands? What did the Scouts do (you and carnage), good and bad?[/iq]
[ia]As I mentioned earlier, our main fault was failing to stick together against their scouts. It’s hard enough fighting even two average scouts on your own, but when you’re up against an almost-always overhealed pair of amazing scouts, it becomes orders of magnitude more difficult.[/ia]
[iq]Thinking back, who were the best and worst players on each team during this match? What is wrong with Complexity (in terms of individual players, strategies, practicing, etc)? Where do you see Pandemic in the CEVO tournament, ESEA Season 3, and beyond?[/iq]
[ia]Almost everyone on both teams had their moments, but the two players that stood out the most were carnage (as always) and syckness (on gravelpit). Not going to comment on that second part :) Complexity no doubt has some amazing teamwork and chemistry, but they’re somewhat lacking in heavy fragging power. In regards to the future, I’ll quote Bradford “PYYYOUR” Ross: “Sure we will fall here and there, but when it comes down to it, this team … will win every online and LAN tournament that is out there.[/ia]
[iq]As you may have noticed...all of the high-stakes competitive TF2 matches are played on cpgranary, cpbadlands, and cp_gravelpit. Is this a function of the two teams that are always playing these matches (Pand and coL) or is it due to the failures of the other available maps? What user-made maps catch your eye?[/iq]
[ia]These are all tried-and-true maps. In the context of a finals match, it’s important that the outcome be determined by the greater expression of skill and teamwork, not by some gimmicky map. However, there are quite a few other maps that come close to this ideal, namely yukon, follower, and freight.[/ia]
Interview with REP
As the off Soldier for Complexity, [/flag][b]REP[/b] provides much needed support to the powerfully aggressive Reptile. After his performance in the finals match, I felt it necessary to find out more:
[iq]You went 13-28 on cp_gravelpit against Pandemic. Everyone understands that pocket Soldiers have lower K:Ds but this seems unusually low ... what happened?[/iq]
[ia]What people probably don't care to understand is I was doing what I was told. I suicided 3 times to force uber, 2 of those times I did force uber and the third time the medic was extremely weak and oplaid was behind him and then finished him off. On roof our combo was weak and their medic with uber was coming out of longhall, I could've went for the scout pushing out combo but I again went for the medic to force uber and killed him with it. I died a lot trying to force uber but thats just how our team plays we wait for them to pop uber and then we uber reptile out. Their strategy had a gun watching half of the roof for jaeger. I had to watch the entire roof from the demo/solds and couldn't peak to far or get sniped by carnage. If my job was to play passive close to the medic I would've gotten more kills, but I did instead what people asked me to do and I sincerely think I did a good job of doing that. I outfragged jeager Pandemic's pocket sold on granary and badlands, but no credit from that right? ;p[/ia]
[iq]Course not :). After the first round of cpgranary it appeared as if Complexity would dominate the map. What were you and the team thinking at that point? How did you prepare for cpgranary?[/iq]
[ia]We prepared prior scrimming dynamic that day and a couple days before scrimming EG| trying to test some strats for the middle battle. I think we all said the same thing 'lets do that again' after the first round.[/ia]
[iq]It all came together on cp_badlands for Complexity. What do you attribute the win on this map to?[/iq]
[ia]Badlands is probably our best map, and the middle battle allows all of us to use deathmatch skill, while other maps have the dm taking place between scouts first then heavy clases later. We were down 3-0 but after we won middle from that point on we had a much better momentum. Syckness also had an extremely clutch backcap for the 5th gamepoint rnd.[/ia]
[iq]Where do you see Complexity in the next few months (the CEVO tournament, ESEA Season 3, and beyond)?[/iq]
[ia]We are really only going to get better, having gotten to play maybe 10hrs with our new medic Pure, and only 1 scrim of gravelpit with him, I really don't see us getting anything but stronger. That chemistry of the soldier / medic duo takes a while to develop. We take a loss pretty well, and we all get along well. that is something a lot of teams don't share, and also helps us for the future.[/ia]
[iq]As I asked Pandemic's enigma...all of the high-stakes competitive TF2 matches are played on cpgranary, cpbadlands, and cp_gravelpit. Is this a function of the two teams that are always playing these matches (Pand and coL) or is it due to the failures of the other available maps? What user-made maps catch your eye?[/iq]
[ia]It's def. a failure of the other maps... the only custom map that I see some potential in is yukon. Playing the same four maps over and over has made things pretty dull lately, valve needs to release some new ones.[/ia]
I would like to thank both [b]enigma[/b] and [b]REP[/b] for their time. You can watch the full footage of the match on Pwnage.tv. Stay tuned for more competitive TF2 league coverage!
Pandemic vs. coL - cpgranary Pandemic vs. coL - cpbadlands Pandemic vs. coL - cp_gravelpit
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