Currently the only two undefeated teams in ESEA-O Season 3 are Area 51 Gaming in the Central Conference and eXult TF2 in the East Conference. I interviewed eXult TF2 in late May (you can see the interview HERE) and they have maintained their unbeaten record since then. Area 51 TF2 has preserved their goose egg in the same manner that eXult has but they boast a statistic that no other team in ESEA S3 TF2 can claim - they have never been scored on. As such, I thought it would be wise to interview their captain.
Hello cbear. From your perspective, how has this season been going? Do you feel that your team will stay together in the coming weeks (considering the number of teams falling apart lately)?
Well, the season has been successful from a record standpoint -- we're 8-0 without dropping a round, but I think everyone on the team would rather be in ESEA-O East or ESEA-I. And our team health is fine -- I've been in charge of this team (though it has gone through many changes) since TWL S2 7-8 months ago. Since then, we've progressed through STA, CEVO Season 3, and ESEA Season 2 (its first for TF2) while maintaining a healthy/fun approach to TF2...even when we're playing bad.
How confident are you that you will remain undefeated throughout the regular season? Which other teams do you see as obstacles in the playoffs?
I'm about 98% sure we'll win out. The Knights of Goku kids (and man, with Orzo) gave us a pretty competitive cp_pro_dustbowl match... but I think that was our biggest hurdle as far as the regular season is concerned.
In playoffs there are 4-5 teams I'm looking forward to playing: Zilla Gaming - our 'sister' clan (as in they're girls) have serious scout/utility ability and are... good all around. eXult is probably the other favorite to win open -- though I think we have the advantage at a few spots, they have high quality death match ability and they scrim a fucking ton (NERDS). Strickland Propane, Cardboard Robotz (the idiot fastfire/marv team), and KoG are three other top teams in open, but I'd put zG and eXult above those two (even though Zilla lost to Strickland). Cardboard Robotz will probably be really good too, since it's vpolice + 2 people --- I am glad that they pouted and stomped away from invite only to come back to open a few weeks later. Throwback is pretty good too.
You guys recently lost to Push Gaming in the CEVO tournament. You now have two more matches in the lower bracket before being able to face Complexity in the Group B finals. What happened against Push and what do you foresee happening in these next few matches?
Well we got raped by Push 5-0 on cp_granary. I could make a few dozen excuses in explanation: our Medic had a 500 ping, we hadn't played versus a good team in a few weeks, blah blah blah. But really, I didn't put us in a position to win --- I played like an asshole, and my in-game calling was terrible. I wish Push didn't die so we could face them again, with us playing MUCH better as of late... But I don't want to take anything from them, they played really well and we didn't.
Anyway, we have a tough match versus KoG coming up on badlands (if we beat Bukakke Baptism tomorrow on cp_freight, but I think we will) and they've upgraded significantly, adding Orzo (who seriously raped us while he was with push)... so HOPEFULLY we will beat them. If I had to guess, I'd say we beat BB and we'll have a good match with KoG (maybe 5:3 win). Playing coL in CEVO would own as we'd be huge underdogs, but I think we'd be able to give them a little fight :>.
I recently posted a topic on our forums regarding a CEVO Main division for Season 4 TF2. What do you think of an intermediate division given the varying caliber of teams in competitive TF2 at the moment (new teams, experienced but not Professional teams, Professional teams, etc)?
Well, I've been a proponent for a middle-division for either CEVO or ESEA... or both. The problem is TF2 has around 9 'good' or better teams --- a few more that are 'decent' and a swirling mess of crap. I actually figured that with this ESEA season we'd see more intermediate caliber teams emerging, but it seems that the same-old-bullshit of teams forming and dying, moving 1-2 spots around in the same old bad lineup and trying again is going to continue for as long as this game is played competitively. For CEVO or ESEA to implement an intermediate division at this point, with the absolutely terrible condition of the invite-quality division, would be a huge mistake. As it stands right now, I'd look for CEVO to do what they did after the last tournament (before season 2) and use the results of the current tournament to fill out a 12ish team 'p' division, and then use open for the rest of the teams. Until the community can sustain more than 4 teams at a time at the invite level, and the 'main' level teams stop dying and reforming every month there is no reason to attempt a intermediate division.
Thank you for your detailed answers.
Stay tuned for more competitive TF2 updates and be sure to vote on CEVO Main on our forums at the above listed link.
