| Interview With LowLandLions! |
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| Written by Anthony | |
| Thursday, 08 May 2008 | |
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After an impressive third place finish at XL4, and first place at the Cycom LAN in Paris recently, LowLandLions have established themselves as one of the best Halo 3 teams in Europe. We got to sit down with LLL to talk about XL 4 and Cycom, and the future of the team. Their current lineup is:
Anthony: Let me start out by saying congratulations to you guys for a dominant first place finish at Cycom and getting third at XL 4 in March! How did it feel to win Cycom?
EXp3r1EnZ: Well, after we placed third at XL4 and we knew we could have placed first, it felt great placing first at Cycom, we needed that so much! I know we can be the best of the best, but proving it, is the second thing! So I’m proud of my team!
Infern0s: Thanks! Well as we knew we were favourites to win Cycom it was a great feeling to win the tournament the way we did. It was a great feeling finally winning a LAN 4v4 tournament, and it really came with a sense of relief for me.
Sh1n4t0: Feels really good! Finally for the first time, 1st place in a 4v4 LAN tournament
ForReal: Never thought I would ever win a final in a 4v4 LAN tournament *wipes away a tear*. In all seriousness it felt great!
Anthony: You guys stormed through the tournament without dropping a game until you were 2-0 up in the finals. Did the prospect of winning without dropping a game cause you guys to get overconfident and play sloppy or were Epsilon coming up clutch?
EXp3r1EnZ: Yes, it was basically us getting overconfident after not dropping a game and only needing 1 game to win the tournament we played 2 sloppy games until we finally got the deciding win.
Infern0s: It was defiantly a mix of both, like you said after being up 2-0 we got a bit overconfident and did not play out the 3rd game type as we should of. Followed by one of our weaker game types in which Epsilon outplayed us we stepped up our game in the final game to win it, although I personally felt it was all a bit to close for comfort.
Sh1n4t0: Both, we got overconfident and on top of that Epsilon was playing really good, which made us lose 2 games.
ForReal: I think a bit of both, but if we (especially me) did not get overconfident like we did we could have won the tournament without dropping a single game.
Anthony: How did you find the tournament and level of play at Cycom compared to XL? And how well do you think some of the French teams can do at XL 5?
EXp3r1EnZ: At XL you have more European team which means more competition, at Cycom you only had French teams (except for us). It would basically be the same as a UK only tournament where only a few teams are at the Top European level.
Infern0s: Overall it seemed that the individual skill of the players was right up there with the best of Europe, but that teamwork and playing smart really lacked and broke up most teams. If the top teams learn how to play 4s they could easily place extremely high at a XL, but for now I see them placing top 12/8/6, depending on how much they evolve their game and the teams in attendance.
Sh1n4t0: The French teams were very good. It wasn’t like we got to the finals with ease, we struggled. And I do believe that the teams like Epsilon, Painfully or ThundeR could get top 8 if not top 6 at XL5.
ForReal: The level of play actually surprised me to be honest, even though we didn’t drop a single game till the finals. If the top teams like Epsilon and Painfully stick to one line-up for once, they could get Top 6, depends on the bracket though since they have zero seeding points for XL.
Anthony: Let’s talk about you guys now. What do you feel makes you guys a good team?
EXp3r1EnZ: Got good team mates, and our chemistry is also good, we feel each other, know what to do, and we’re always helping each other very well.
Infern0s: It’s easily the fact that we’re all friends in real life, so we get a long extremely well and listen to what we have to tell each other. It’s always easier teaming with friends than it is teaming with people you don’t really know. In game I think our individual skill is what sets us apart from most teams, but on the highest level of play I think what makes us so strong is knowing what the other players in the team are doing which you only get when you play a long time with them.
Sh1n4t0: Sticking together, being friends with each other and being good in bed, you know the usual.
ForReal: The love man, every single person in our team likes each other so yeah!
Anthony: What are your strongest points as individuals?
EXp3r1EnZ: I’m always learning! I can play (almost) every shooting game very well, and always learn from it!
Infern0s: I’d say I can really play any role and do it well, be it running the objective, slay or sniping. I also feel like the captain in the team, so I call most of the strats and try and keep the rest of my team pumped (or slap them out of a bad zone if they’re in one)
Sh1n4t0: Like when I get like snipe n stuff… I like quick scope people n stuff, and people would be like ooooohhhh aaaahhhhhh. On a serious note - Yeah I do believe my strongest point is my sniping and I’m pretty much an overall player.
ForReal: I love to play for my team, supporting them whenever I can. I’m more of the objective guy with Exp3r1EnZ and once in a while go loco with ratios. Against some teams I try to trash talk a lot!
Anthony: Lets move onto XL 4. You guys were playing really well until the WB finals against The Incredibles, not dropping a game. What went wrong in that match?
Infern0s: After beating Reason Gaming UK we were ecstatic, we had guaranteed a top 3 spot which had been our goal and we were guaranteed prize money! Unfortunately this also broke us up against The Incredibles, they’re an amazing team and we weren’t even close to our top form during the games, which leaded to them completely outplaying us. I also made the huge mistake of flipping out at my team mates which then lead to us playing awful against G3, now known as qG.
Sh1n4t0: Personally , I was playing terrible NOT because “I was happy with top 3” no way in hell I was happy with that, I wanted to go straight for 1st place and not ending up 3rd like my old team did with XL1. I believe it was the big screen which made my BR and snipe go waaay off , it was the first time I had to play on it, so in the LB finals vs G3, Infy and me switched places, which helped me a lot, I was playing like my usual self again, to bad our team spirit was gone after we got beat bad by Incredibles. And not having that , there was no way we could beat a team like G3.
ForReal: Well since we didn’t drop a single match the whole way up to this match I thought we were untouchable to be really honest. We got over-confident and got out-played by them.
 LLL at XL proving why they are one of the best teams in Europe.
Anthony: What are the plans for this summer seeing as you guys can't attend XL 5 with a full roster because of a holiday clash?
EXp3r1EnZ: For XL - Training harder, getting better of course, and preparing for big events. But me and Infern0s are going, more for fun of course, but we’ll try our best, and we’ll see what’s going to happen! For WCG - Like I said, we’re going to train harder, preparing for the WCG etc. MLG - We’re not sure if we're going this summer, but the plan is going to 1 MLG event this year, so we’ll see!
Infern0s: We will still be training as the WCG Qualifiers are coming up somewhere in the summer and hopefully we can attend an MLG although those chances look very slim, which really is a shame as we’d love to go.
ForReal: We will just continue training, next tournament is WCG where I expect us to win the national qualifiers which will be hard though because there are some strong Dutch teams out there waiting to show us that we aren’t the best in the Netherlands.
Anthony: It would be awesome if you guys went to MLG! Talking of WCG, what do you think of the rules they have chosen to go with? Do you think they should just follow MLG rules?
EXp3r1EnZ: Haha, I contacted the Dutch WCG organization in the Netherlands about this, they contacted WCG Korea, talking about the rules. And I wanted them changed, so I also asked for help from H3F UK, sending a complaining email about the gametypes, and changing it to MLG rules!
Infern0s: Definitely, MLG have always set the standard for competitive gaming and WCG should just follow them as all the top teams have trained with their rules for years. With the recent update in the rules though it seems that they’re following the MLG for the biggest part so I’m happy.
ForReal: I’m glad they changed it, now we actually have a chance lol.
Anthony: Now you guys are one of the few teams to not make a roster change, even back in Halo 2 your roster didn't change much. What do you think about all the post XL 4 team changes and what teams do you think could compete for the top spots at XL 5?
EXp3r1EnZ: Well, every team has to make their own choices. If they think its good for the team then why not make a team change? But if a team like ourselves, trust and like each other you should try to stick together! The longer you stay as a team, the stronger you will be. Some teams do need changes but we're lucky that we don't.
Infern0s: Us not team changing got us to where we are now. Like I said before, we can handle the top level of competitive play extremely well due to knowing exactly what the other players are doing most of the time this is solely because we’ have played together for such a long time.
For XL5 predictions, I’m not the one to make predictions but I’d definitely see iD (The Incredibles) and qG back on top, due to the current team change the Incredibles made which in my opinion was a wise one. qG were online the day after XL and I don’t think I’ve seen them all offline once since XL.
Sh1n4t0: I don’t really have a clue on all the team changes that’s been going on after xl4. So I cant say much about it, so my guesses are iD and qG Top 3, and Team EGO top 32.
ForReal: Personally I hate team changes it can make top teams but it can also break top teams. I hope that iD wins the event, EGO to make Top 4 and iR to cause some huge upsets!
Anthony: Before we wrap this up, any comments or shout outs?
EXp3r1EnZ: Yes, I would like to say to teams, keep on playing, and own some noobs! Haha, but to be serious, if something doesn’t go right as an team, stay strong as a team, and practice on it. With practicing it brings you where you want to be. Also, keep on complaining about the rules of the WCG, so they update the rules and copy MLG. Go HERE and suggest they update the rules, and put the maps what MLG uses (stockpile will be removed, and the latest onslaught map will be used), as well as stating the rules clearly on their website.
Infern0s: Shout out to our sponsor LowLandLions, who have provided us with the best sponsorship in Europe as far as ConsoleGaming goes and everybody reading this should also check out Halo3Forum.co.uk!
Sh1n4t0: Like…Shinato n stuffffffffffffffff
ForReal: LowLandLions FTW!
Anthony: I'd like to thank LLL for taking the time to do this interview. For more information on LLL, check out their website at www.LowLandLions.com. Comments (5)
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Good interview