Recap - Group Stages: Week 3

Once, a little bird whispered into my ear that there was to be tension coming around the corner in this Nations Cup. And there is. Whilst the main drama was focused this week, there are still a few matches to be played that decide who goes through to the gold-studded playoffs. For Week 3, the maps that were played were koth_pro_viaduct_rc3, and cp_gravelpit. Both maps are very well-known in the Highlander scene, with Gravelpit boasting a large amount of strategy to be put in, and Viaduct being known for a heavily DM-centric map. As most of the groups have decided the top 2, who will be progressing to the playoffs, I will produce a playoff preview during the "catchup" week, which is in a few days time. On top of all the playoff hype, 2 countries have dropped. Shame on them. Until then, what happened in this week of the second Highlander Nations Cup?

Group A

Results

France 6 - 0 Lithuania

Norway 6 - 0 Slovakia

Overview

For France, it was always certain they would qualify, even before the matches began back in Week 1. However, they had already guaranteed their spot by the end of Week 2, with a 6-0 and a 5-1 victory against Slovakia and Norway. Now it was just a question of whether they could pull a large point gap in the last week against their last opponents, Lithuania. Fortunately, the outcome for the French was another 6-0 victory, meaning they only dropped one point in the entirety of their group stage campaign. With Plapla having another excellent game, by going 29:14 on Viaduct and generally annoying the Lithuanian side with his antics, and Flippy giving himself another solid game throughout both maps, the French look in good shape coming into the playoffs. Whilst they did drop a point to Norway on Week 2, on pl_upward, I don't think they'd be too disheartened. If France played around with their somewhat large roster, it could reap different rewards for them. However, their main lineup is something to be feared. With Exon going 15:3 and over 4k damage in one Gravelpit round, you can see the French have extremely strong DM. With the 6v6 experience within the team, the maps this week would have helped them even more; Gravelpit, being an old 6v6 map, and Viaduct being a new 6v6 map must've helped the French in some way. Conversely, for Lithuania, they finish in 3rd place in Group A, with 6 points. Their only victory came from Slovakia, in Week 2. Whilst their roster boasted talent such as eSky, Pr3d and Evokje_, it didn't work out for the Lithuanians in the end. In my opinion, Group A was one of the toughest groups to be in; having a powerhouse that was France, with a newly-revamped Norway, it would've been tough to break through the barrier the 2 countries made themselves. Which brings me onto the other match: Norway must've been feeling confident, as they had already played the French, and were about to play the bottom team in their group, Slovakia. Fortunately for the Norwegians, their toughest fight was out of the way, and they could relax a little. Even more fortunately, Norway came out with a 6-0 victory, leaving them with 13 points, making them finish 2nd. According to their Engineer, ThaZimmer, it was apparently "a roll". Well, I can't particularly tell if there were no logs to record this "roll". Who knows? It could've been really close, and there was no proof! Although the screenshots where Ace was using the newly-buffed Quick-Fix, and E-thug and DrLeon MVP'ing just below their Medic, you can tell the Norwegians had a good day indeed. Sadly for Slovakia, it's all over. Losing every single game without scoring a single point, the Slovakians leave empty handed. Whilst some may consider them the nicest team in the competition, there's no going forward for them. For the Slovakians and Lithuania, it's all over. But for France and Norway, it only gets tougher and tougher. The French are expected to get far in this Nations Cup, after losing out in the final to Germany. But the Norwegians may have a point to prove after just missing out on the playoffs last time. Expect it to be good!

Group B

Results

USA 6 - 0 Austria

Croatia 3 - 3 Portugal

Overview

Congratulations to the USA, the first team to score maximum points in the group stages! Amassing 18/18 points, without even dropping any rounds in the 3 matches they've played, the US look very comfortable indeed. Playing against Austria this week, the US had already qualified by having a very large point cushion from the other teams in Group B. However they played like they needed to win every little detail. With Ruwin putting out 420 damage per minute and getting 21 frags, along with Xalox going 22:2 on Viaduct, the US had made it 3-0 in less than 15 minutes, and Gravelpit was up next. It was definitely what some people would call a roll in most cases. Gravelpit was slightly closer, but only slightly. With Sigafoo having some amazing stats on Gravelpit, going 28:9 as an Engineer, is a very good game for the US. Ruwin again was up there on the boards, with 26 frags and just over 7.5k damage. The USA must now look forward to their potential matchups in the playoffs, as it could be very easy for them if they continue to play like they have done in the group stages. Austria were 2nd by the beginning by this week: now sadly, they're in last place with 4 points. Their display in Week 1 against Croatia proved they could contest with the other teams - maybe not the USA, but you never know. It seemed like their performances fell throughout the group stages, going with a draw 3-3, then a 5-1 loss, THEN a 6-0 loss. An extremely blue end to their campaign, indeed. Players like Tommi and hB both had solid performances throughout the group stages, but sadly, the performances could not carry Austria to any sort of victory. Conversely, the other matchup between Portugal and Croatia was crucial. If Croatia came out with any sort of win, they would qualify for the playoffs. However, the Portuguese needed to keep their buffer of 2 points that way, so they had to either win or be extremely lucky with a draw. It was all or nothing for the Croatians for this week, as they had to win to get through. Sadly, it was a very close affair, with the scores being even at 3-3. This led Portugal ending with 8 points, and Croatia ending with 6. This meant the Portuguese qualified into the playoffs, with Croatia being oh-so close behind them. The first map was Viaduct, where the Portuguese won comfortably 3-0. Kiler4funN' top fragged again for Portugal, with 32 frags, not to mention the near 400 damage per minute he was putting out. On top of a bustling flank, the main combo of Haunter and kAsh had a great day too. With 28 and 22 frags respectively, both players had a great game on Viaduct against a Croatian side that looked... weak DM-wise. It took 6 Portuguese players before the top fragger of Croatia, FlagsYu, was on the scoreboard. Although the rounds were close, the Portuguese muscled their way through a very DM-heavy map, which turned out in their favour. However, Gravelpit was a different story altogether. The Croatians came out with a 2-0 victory, handing themselves 3 points. Although Croatia may have done well in the playoffs, I have to say Portugal look the better team. Their players have been performing solidly throughout, and they can only look forward to playing stronger teams. 

Group C

Results

Russia 6 - 0 Hungary

Poland 6 - 0 Romania

Overview

For Romania, it was always going to be an uphill battle. After a shock win for the Polish against Russia, they had to beat Poland without dropping any points to even stand a chance to qualify. Sadly, it was completely the opposite. A 3-0 loss on Viaduct and a 2-0 loss on Gravelpit meant the Romanians lost 6-0, grabbing no more points in their campaign. With the Poles topping Group C with a maximum 18 points, they must be feeling confident. After a shocking first campaign, Poland have stepped up their game, arguably the most stepped-up team in this competition besides Italy and Estonia, they should be looking confident going into playoffs. Along with just under a week's break, they can prepare with whatever necessary, although I don't think DM is a problem. With Wonder topfragging on Viaduct with 30 frags, and Lamei pumping out 10k damage makes the Poles something to be feared. With most of their players coming from the old Max-Play community Highlander team, that used to play in the Premiership and Division 1, they have experience of a high level, as well as being together. Romania was always a team I would look out for. They had a lot of potential within their ranks to cause some shocks. However, it looks like it didn't happen this time around. Conversely, Shampoo and MonkeyBone had some decent games this week against the Poles. However with their only victory coming from Hungary, they finish 3rd in the group, with 2 wins and 4 losses, resulting in 6 points accumulated. Sadly for the Romanians, it means their campaign is over. But they can look back positively - not many people can say they played for their country and manage to come away with points, do they? I wish I could. But I'm just not good enough. The other match played in Group C was Russia going up against Hungary. Going into the match, the Russians were the arguable favourites, boasting talent such as Irfx, Pala4 and unHuman. Fortunately for the Ruskies, after their shock 6-0 loss toward Poland, they took away a 6-0 victory, leaving them with 12 points out of a possible 18. This means that Russia and Poland qualify for the playoffs, leaving Romania and Hungary out, meaning their campaign is over. The Romanians had a very reshuffled team from last time out, meaning they had new players and possibly new playstyles to work with. It was like they were a newborn team, like Hungary were. The Hungarians were a new team to this competition, like Slovakia and Kazakhstan, for example, and sadly they didn't get far. Whilst promising plays from PingWIN7, Zhoxk and Bunny may have helped them in the short-term, the Hungarians scored 0 points, and only picked up one round in 3 matches, where the score was 2-1 on Gullywash against Romania, back in Week 2.. Sadly, it is over for them, and can only concentrate on either improving for the next Nations Cup, or going back to 6v6/Highlander to train themselves up.

Group D

Results

Canada 6 - 0 Belgium
Greece 0 - 6 Finland (ffw for Finland)

Overview

Sadly, the match between a few of my old teammates never actually happened. Finland had already guaranteed their spot in the playoffs in Week 2 by taking a 6-0 victory over Canada. Now, much like France, they were just playing to show off. Playing against Greece this week, they had one of the more easier matchups in Group D. However, before the match started, a few of the Greek players wanted RouHe, an unknown Sniper with CS:S professionalism under his belt, come into the Finnish national team after apparently quitting the game beforehand. However, the Finns did not take their pleas at all. Which could have been a good thing. However, the match was then forfeited by Greece, because of lack of starting players. This means the Greeks finish bottom of Group D, with 0 points. For the Greeks, it may be a sad time that their campaign is over, but they were a new country coming into this Nations Cup, and were in one of the toughest groups to contend with. On top of the dominant forces Finland and Canada were, Belgium were also showing some revitalization within their ranks. For a new country, Greece would've found it hard regardless of the situation. Sadly their campaign is over, and we have to see if they come back stronger for the next Nations Cup. This means that Finland topped Group D, with 18 points, meaning another 100% win rate for another team. It's getting exciting here! What 100% team will crash first?! It's why playoffs are such an amazing thing ladies and gentlemen. You get to see the best of the best, and whether the qualifiers were worthy of such an accomplishment. But, the other match played this week was a more interesting one. A Belgian side that looked pretty confident with themselves, after a 6-0 victory over Greece, who played Canada, who might've been feeling blue after a slight roll from the Finnish. Canada came out of the starting blocks hot on Viaduct, taking a 3-0 victory in just over 15 minutes. The combination of Invite players from the Canadian roster really helped them. Squid going 24:14 and Bryan unloading over 11k damage on a map like Viaduct shut down the Belgians. However it wasn't all shiny for the Canadians. Some letdowns on the team, like Mangachu, everyone's favourite "shitlord", going 13:21 as Engineer no less, could have hindered the Canadians slightly. On Gravelpit, the dominance from the Canadians shined through again, with another 3 points being picked up for Canada, resulting in 6 points being taken. Although Belgium may have crashed out in 3rd place, they should be happy. After having a good match against Greece, and contesting with some of the top countries in TF2, they should be proud of their performances and results. Whilst the camera may lie to the countries that did qualify for the playoffs, people should still look at the countries that didn't make it. After all, they did provide some great entertainment and plays for any viewer, no? And we should thank them for their efforts and supports toward the community's viewing.

Group E

Results

Scotland 6 - 0 Kazakhstan

Sweden 6 - 0 Latvia

Overview

One match was always going to decide the seedings. And the matchup between Scotland and Latvia just showed. With teams more than likely going to be level on points after this week, Latvia had a somewhat uphill battle in the last week. Playing a Sweden side who were in full swing and in the playoffs already, as well as their main rivals, Scotland, having already played the Swedes, they had the harder time this week. All the Latvians needed was just one point to progress. And against Sweden? It would've been difficult. With a map like Viaduct where it's a guaranteed 3-0 points, they needed to win at least one round of Gravelpit to get themselves through into the knockout phases. Sadly, Latvia lost 6-0, meaning they were stuck with 9 points. With Sweden having a great game, they topped the group with 18 points, maxing out their 100% win rate. Jukebox and Ryb had excellent games throughout, with Jukebox going 28:11 and Ryb outdamaging his opposing Demoman, Atomic-, by 2k on Viaduct alone. Gravelpit however, seemed a bit one-sided in favour of the Swedes. With a 3:48 time on the first round on offence, it would've been hard for Latvia to break through. Sadly they did not, and within that round of Latvia attacking, Jukebox was on fire again, putting out 5 frags and over 1.5k damage under 4 minutes. The second round started off with the Latvians attacking, and a 13:00 cap time did not help their causes. By that time, Sweden were in full force, putting that time into the dust with a recap of 3:05, meaning the Swedes had taken all the points with some style. At this point, the Latvians had to wait to see if the new and plucky Kazakhstan could take any sort of points off of Scotland. The Scots had to win 6-0 to see any sort of chance to qualify. Fortunately, a 6-0 victory against the Kazakhs meant they had a chance of going through. On Viaduct, the combination of Gozo and DanielSasquatch, with Dendocror as their Medic, wiped past the Kazakhs in just over 10 minutes. Both Gozo and DanielSasquatch picked up over 20 frags each, and both had over 10 kill streaks at one point. The flanks of Wux and Fragm3nt3d had another great effect for the Scots on Viaduct, with both getting over 20 frags as well. Gravelpit was another one sided affair for the Scots, picking up a fairly easy 2-0 victory. This meant they had 6 points to add to their 3 beforehand, meaning they had 9 points. But, so did Latvia. How was it going to be decided who gets through and who doesn't? Well, I simply don't know. The catchup week, to be played between the 28th - 2nd, will probably decide who goes through. Both these teams drew 3-3 when playing each other on Week 2, meaning they're extremely close contenders. But there can only be two teams, not three. Sweden already booked their spot in Week 2 to go to the knockout phases, so we must wait for the Scots and the Latvians to duke it out again. And for the little country that could, Kazakhstan? Sadly, they did not pick up a single point, nor a single round. So for them, their journey is over. They shouldn't be disheartened though; this was their first outing on such an experience, and being in an extremely tough group did not help either. However, we can only wish them luck for the future.

Group F

Results

England 6 - 0 Bulgaria

Spain 6 - 0 Belarus

Overview

Well, the match between England and Bulgaria was very very interesting. In particular, this hilarious moment between the Bulgarian Engineer, LaMqTa, and England's Scout, Stark. You have to watch it in its full glory. One of the best moments I've ever seen. Back to the match itself, the English had already qualified for the playoffs with a comfortable point cushion. Now, again, they were playing for showing off their skills. With Kaidus playing Medic on Viaduct, and Shintaz playing Engineer, you could see England may have been slightly relaxed in this situation. And they did not disappoint. Taking Viaduct with a score of 3-0 made England look as dominant as ever. With Saaaad Pandaaaa (did I get the correct amount of As in?) going 26:8, the English took Viaduct in less than 14 minutes. Their dominance showed greatly with their DM, as Shintaz, the arguable star of the English team, going 23:6 as an Engineer on Viaduct. The outstanding qualities shined through on this map, and continued onto Gravelpit. Taking a 2-0 victory on Gravelpit as well, this meant England took the maximum points, finishing with a 6-0 victory. This meant they topped the group with 17 points, only dropping a point to Spain on Week 1. Now that England were top of the group comfortably, what would happen to Bulgaria? They finish the Nations Cup in last place, without scoring a point throughout their campaign. But, you could understand that, as they are a new team coming into this competition, who had no previous experience against these countries. We bid farewell to the eager Bulgarians, who had quite a large amount of potential to upset. In the other match, between Spain and Belarus, it was possible Belarus could qualify. However they had to take home 4 or points against an extremely impressive Spanish side that wanted to finish the job easily. On Viaduct, Pescanova was back to full strength, going 29:16, and with Pl0 backing up, but offclassing as Heavy, the Spanish took Viaduct in convincing fashion. A combination of pure DM and gamesense helped the Spanish cruise to victory. One unknown player on Spain, Vaynster, has provided some scintillating plays for his team, as well as providing crushing DM by topfragging on any map from what I've seen. He is really needed in this well-coordinated Spanish side. Spain do qualify in 2nd place with 13 points, only losing to England, but a pretty hefty 5-1 loss. With this the Spanish qualify again for the playoffs. (Yes! My country is good at something other than football!) As for Belarus? Well, they finish a respectable 3rd place, with 6 points. However, their only victory came against Bulgaria, and their losses were quite hefty from England and Spain. This is probably one of the best performances from a new country coming into the Nations Cup, as they've managed to get solid points on the board as well as good, solid work being put into the team. And I respect them for that, heavily.

Group G

Results

Netherlands 6 - 0 Italy

Estonia 6 - 0 Turkey (ffw for Estonia)

Ukraine 0 - 6 Netherlands

Estonia 1 - 5 Ukraine

Overview

Group G was an extremely interesting group to look at. On paper, 4/5 countries could contest for the playoffs. Now that TWO of those countries have dropped, it opens up a much easier path for the other countries. Italy were sitting pretty in 2nd place after an amazing revival of their players by bringing in experience and gamechangers. Players like Rock, Sphnyx and Carnifex all have brought their assets towards Italy and their chances of qualifying. However, a match between Ukraine and the Netherlands was going to be crucial. The Ukrainians were sitting in 3rd place, just a point behind the Italians. They had to score highly against the Dutch to secure another spot in the playoffs. It was an extremely close affair at the top, with the Dutch, Italy and Ukraine all within 2 or 3 points of each other. However, the Dutch came out on top, taking Barnblitz 2-0 and Lakeside 3-0 in a 6-0 victory over the Ukrainians. This meant the Dutch had guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. Sadly, for Ukraine, the stress may have gotten to them as well as frustration; they dropped immediately after the match was played, meaning the results they played were still kept.. Their hard work, with wins and losses, was all put into a dropped cause. A sad time indeed. In another interesting matchup between the bottom 2 teams, Turkey and Estonia, it could've gone either way. I was extremely shocked when I heard the Estonians grab 3 points off the arguable favourites, the Netherlands, and they were extremely happy and going strong according to their leader, M2R. Such shocks must encourage the underdog, and they went into this week facing a Turkish side who already gave a FFW previously. On top of that, they had scored no points whatsoever; to me, I thought Turkey may have been able to contest with some of the teams in Group G. Sadly that didn't seem to be the case. Turkey gave away another FFW for unknown reasons to Estonia, meaning they had to drop from the competition according to ETF2L rules. All teams that played against them were also nullified, meaning the point difference between the other countries may have either gotten closer, or possibly further away, meaning closer or farther contest. On top of claiming useless points, Estonia had to play against Ukraine, which resulted in a 5-1 loss, with their only point coming from a round win on Gravelpit. With the Ukrainian Sniper, Kensi., having an amazing game on Viaduct, going 53:21, with 5 Medic picks, he certainly had something to boast about after that game. Blade for Ukraine also put out 16k damage on Viaduct, meaning a lot of frags to follow up for his team, and himself. The Estonians also had some great players, with Raiku going 45:26 and Sheff grabbing 3 Medic picks on Viaduct as well. Both teams looked pretty even, although the score did not imply that it was. With the Estonians taking their point from an amazing captime on Gravelpit, they had some shining qualities. However, Ukraine took away the majority of the points, 5 out of 6 infact, meaning they were still in contention to qualify. The Estonians, were not. They had some absolutely amazing results, amazing plays, but, it did not work out. And it's a shame. Underrated teams always show the best matches, and the Estonians certainly showed us that. The final match played was between the top 2 teams, Netherland and Italy. The result was a commanding 6-0 victory for the Dutch, after the Italians had a slipup with their main roster and no practice. However, the results beforehand for the Italians meant that they qualified along with the Netherlands. Very interesting affair, indeed. I think both the teams from Group G who qualified have the potential to upset a lot of the "bigger" teams in this competition - whilst some may consider the Dutch and Italy to be big contenders, I feel like they would need to practice A LOT to contest with the likes of Finland, USA and Sweden. Although, it's still all up in the air. We have to wait and see what happens.

Group H

Results

Germany 0 - 0 Denmark (being played 27/07)

Ireland 6 - 0 Iceland (ffw for Ireland)

Israel 6 - 0 Iceland (ffw for Israel)

Overview

The final group, Group H, had its fair share... of default wins. Iceland, a new team into the Nations Cup, had issues due to their leader having issues with his PC, meaning it was difficult to communicate and organise. This meant they had to give away 2 default wins to Ireland and Israel, thus meaning they had to drop from the competition according to the ETF2L ruleset. Unfortunately, this meant the previous results were nullified, and the points were basically reset. With little matches being played this week in Group H, it's hard to judge. The match being played on this day, which will decide the 2nd place for the knockout phases. Denmark currently sit level on points with Israel, who were top of the group via TWO default wins. That's either extreme luck and convenience, or being pretty damn cheeky, Fortunately, it was the former. As the Icelandics have dropped from the competition, one of the default wins was nullified, and the Israelis were back to level points with the Danish. However, Denmark play the winners of the last Nations Cup, Germany, who haven't dropped a round nor point at all so far. The Germans look like they want to maintain their crown in the Nations Cup, after commanding and dominant victories in the previous weeks. In short, the Danish NEED to score at least one point to get through. Otherwise, a possible tiebreaker match may have to be played to decide who goes through between Israel and Denmark. When these 2 teams met up in Week 2, they drew 3-3, meaning they are still very close together. If there were to be a tiebreaker match, I suggest you drop everything and watch it. It'll be very good entertainment. As for the last team in Group H, Ireland, I feel very sorry for them. After complete mullerings from the other teams in Group H, they could've redeemed themselves with a victory over Iceland - however, after Iceland dropping, their score was dropped from 6 points to 0, after their default win was nullified. Sadly for the Irish, it's another pointless (quite literally) Nations Cup; after being paired up with the US and Canada in the first one, their luck didn't get any better in this one. They scored no points in this, officially, and go back to their respective teams. Whilst there were some hilarious moments in their campaign, it didn't mean much. So for Ireland, we take their hats off to them and bid farewell.

Speaking of farewells, I'll see you all sometime later. Expect a playoff preview to come out over Tiebreaker Week, and a few interviews with some players! See you then!

~TJB