The Return! [CMS #32 11/23/2019]

CTF Match Spotlight Issue #32

CMS Updates!​

• CMS has officially been revived with the increased activity of official matches! We’re rocking new additions to our team, and you can be one of them!​
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Notice Board

Please do not ask CMS members for permission to spectate matches. We cannot speak for other reps and their wishes, so please ask both reps BEFORE matches. Referee consent will also be in play at all times if they wish. CMS can issue guest passes to those that wish to help out with things like commentating and related, but these passes are highly limited and will only be handed out to those that will add on to the quality of content covered by CMS . Passes are affected by the blacklist, referee preference, and refs/teams consent.

Team leaders/reps, you can always limit the amount of spectators that are in your matches if you wish. If you are bothered by the amount of spectators coming into your matches, then please feel free to pm your match referee and any concerns to redslime or CMS leaders/representatives. All we ask is that you may be thoughtful and fair if you do request to limit spectator numbers accordingly. Your match referee can also control the amount of spectators allowed.

If you have any questions, ideas, comments, or concerns, please feel free to message @Cardonation either in-game, on the forums, or on his discord (Cardona#8215).





[Official] Citrix vs The Crusaders [11/15/19]​

Foodcourt: 4-3 CX (TC pick), 3-0 CX (CX pick) | (CX Win)
CX has looked incredibly strong recently and after beating RNG and OLY pretty swiftly, I don’t think they will have any issues handling TC.


Cardonation: 3-2 TC, 3-0 CX, 1-1 Tie (CX Win)
TC's offense will have trouble dealing with CX's double ninja defense on American Fort and the agreed Airlock I; it will be close as both offenses are very coordinated but CX defense is superior


Slingeh: (TC Win)
I predict that TC will trump over CX’s offense seeing as they have newly acquired tbf members, but we should not overlook CX’s Fatal and Flaze which have proven to be a deadly duo in these past few matches.


auromelt: 4-2 TC, 2-1 CX, 2-0 TC (TC Win)
TC is rly strong now with the addition of tbf players who are very good overall with both pvp and offense plus their pyro carry GHENRY will carry, so if their offense stays coordinated as usual, they should be able to work around cx's roaming defense and get consistent steals and captures on the 3 maps

​

[Official] The Crusaders vs Renegades [11/16/19]​

Foodcourt: 5-3 TC (TC pick), 2-1 RNG (RNG pick), 1-0 RNG (agreed pick) (RNG Win)
Both teams have very strong players. While RNG has seemed to struggle on offense, their defense made up of Recovs, Azol, and a very good archer, BM5, should be able to wear TC out.


Cardonation: 4-2 TC, 3-1 RNG, 2-2 Tie (Tie)
Ninja caps will have an impact in this game I feel


auromelt: 4-1 TC, 1-1 Tie, 2-1 TC (TC Win)
RNG's offense is missing people like larh and unicow so I feel it would significantly weakened than in previous matches. If TC stays coordinated as usual, they should be able to get caps and recovs well. (nvm larh played so my prediction doesn't even matter)


Slingeh: (RNG Win)
I feel like RNG will pull through TC’s powerful offense seeing as they have very good players on defense and have a pvp advantage. Thus allowing their offense to get easy caps and stomp TC.


Snowbreak: (TC Win)
id say that TC wins both due to their recent picking up of extremely skilled TBF players, which will carry them to victory. Scores have no basis and are subjective
​

Our specially selected match of the week, the match we felt was the best to watch.

[Official] Renegades vs The Crusaders

Prematch Interview with @Swit2427, conducted by @Cardonation

Cardonation - Hey there Swit, hope you're having an excellent day today! Starting off this interview, how do you feel about the upcoming match against Citrix this Friday?

Swit2427 - Hello, yeah I'm good! I feel pretty excited about the match. Both teams are good and active, so I think it will be pretty interesting to see. Recently, TC has been really active on CTF, so we see the match as an opportunity for us to have fun and play together. Ash came back in the team as leader, and all the members seem to have a lot of motivation and fun about CTF!

Cardonation - That's great to hear, always nice to see teams coming together and enjoying the game. Both TC and CX have recently seen some especially notable recruits from previous teams. On TC's side, are you looking forward to fielding any of the new members? Are you feeling confident about factors such as their playstyle and communication?

Swit2427 - We didn't expect to recruit 3 players at the same time. 915, Spades and Sean have been friends of TC before joining the team, and they showed interest towards the team, so we accepted them in the family. If you look, both Spades and Sean were mercs since a while before joining as a member, so we already knew how they are playing the game. On the other side, it is the first time that TC has a main elf (915), so we are currently working to adapt our offense and our playstyle. We did a TC vs TC a few days ago and it went pretty well between our soldiers and our new elf on offense. I think everyone in the team is happy to have an elf on offense, this is different that what we used to have (with all our soldiers). So because of all that, I am really confident about them being in the team and playing with us in official matches!


Cardonation - Nice, seems like TC will be able to debut a lot newfound strength in this match! However, CX's rising power is nothing to scoff at either. Who on Citrix do you feel is going to be tough to face against during the match?


Swit2427 - TC's offense will probably have to face Wulfi and Avetis, which I think will be the main problem for our offense during the match. However, if we have a good communication on offense, I think we will be able to get some captures. On the other hand, if we look at their offense, I think TheFatalBest and Flaze are good players and might make it difficult for TC's defense. TC has also good players on defense, so it will be interesting to see both teams playing against each other.


Cardonation - All of those players have definitely been pretty prominent as of late, definitely people to watch out for. The match is definitely looking to be interesting, but the map picks can definitely spice things up even further. Assuming TC will pick Blackout and CX will pick American Fort, what do you think about the match-ups on both of these maps? Both teams have a considerable offense and both maps favor offense quite a bit. What are you hoping to see for an agreed map pick?


Swit2427 - American Fort is not a map that TC likes, so we will put all our chance on Blackout. Even so, I still think that TC can do well on American Fort, our defense just needs to roam more and to separate their offense to not let them steal the flag. The agreed map will be Airlock I. Last time we played against Citrix, they didn't want to play Airlock I as agreed so I'm surprised that they accepted this time. TC can do well on Airlock I, but we've never played that map against Citrix, so we will see how it's going if we go to third map. TC likes Airlock I a lot so we are happy to have that as agreed map.

Cardonation - Very nice, I personally think both teams can do very well on all 3 maps. As a final question, I would like to ask about your opinion on some of the class match-ups we'll see during the match. Both sides have proven to have players that are very capable of running a Scout, and while Citrix doesn't have much Soldier on offense, The Crusaders typically lack Chemist on offense. There are also notable Engineer players on CX such as ItalianPenguin and CakeInASuit. How do you feel this will affect the overall gameplay?


Swit2427 - I think that this depends on the map, for example American Fort is a really good map for elf but OCV is a bad map for elf. The maps that we picked are good for soldier, elf and chemist, so it advantages the offense of both teams. I really think it will depend on the defense, about what the defense will do against those classes on offense. I feel really neutral about that difference between TC and Citrix, because both teams have their strengths.


Cardonation - Interesting observations. Anything else you'd like to say for this interview?


Swit2427 - No I think it’s fine, I wish everyone to have fun.


Cardonation - Alrighty, thank you for your time and best of luck in the match! Hoping to see both sides have a good game.

Swit2427 - Thank you!



Final Scores: 3-2 CX 3-0 CX
Overall: Citrix Win! PotG @TheFatalBest

[Official] The Crusaders vs Renegades

Prematch Interview with @_Pai conducted by @Godman

Godman - How does RNG feel about facing The Crusaders considering their experience in the team scene?


_Pai - Hmm, I would say that I think we do have to give it a lot of thought. With the recent team disbandings, TC is one of just two teams which date back to MCPVP. That means we have to be prepared for them to be more coordinated and experienced at working together than most teams.

Godman - Will the team change up their strategy for TC’s new team, or stay with what they know?


_Pai - Well there's probably a better chance those players will play over their older, more inactive ones, so I'd say we definitely have to think about it. Especially in regards to 915 since while Spades and Sona usually play classes that every team plays in matches, TC didn't really have an elf or scout until 915, so we definitely have to keep in mind their offense may include elf.


Godman - Are there any players your worried about?

_Pai - As an offense player, ghenry obviously, he's the key to their defense.


Godman - Last question, who do you think will put the vibe check in the end? The Crusaders or Renegades?


_Pai - I think it will be super close but we'll take it in 3 maps


Prematch Interview with @Recovs, conducted by @Godman

Godman - Recently, The Crusaders have picked up a variety of players from recently disbanded teams. How will your team prepare to face this new TC?


Recovs - Well we just came from winning our last official, so we want to get a streak going. Also, with new players comes with new playstyles and it could mess up a team's synergy.

Godman - Could The Renegades stop their aerial offense? They have a lot of soldiers and elves, and good medics. More specifically, will you switch up your defensive tactics?


Recovs - Well, our defense is pretty good on its own and most of our players are flexible with roles. We won't struggle switching things up if it's not working. We also have BM5 and he's going to have fun headshotting all of their "aerial" offense. We'll only change our defense if it's not working, but there's certain players we know who to go to kill off their offensive pushes.

Godman - Will you be choosing a map the team is used to, or a map to counter TC’s offense and have more practices to get your team used to that map?

Recovs - We'll choose a map we all feel comfortable offending and defending. Our team has a bunch of pvpers so that'll be a factor of our map pick.

Godman - Alright last question, what is your score prediction of the upcoming match?


Recovs - 2-1 RNG 3-3 Tie 2-0 RNG. Assuming they choose Blackout for their pick


Prematch Interview with @Swit2427, conducted by @Godman

Godman - The Renegades are a team looking to show they are the number one team on CTF. How will TC react after having past experience from being one of the top teams?


Swit2427 - TC is a team with a lot of experience, but no team is our enemy. In TC, we don't really care about who is the best team, who is the second best team, etc. We just want to have fun in our matches and to play competitive CTF together as a team, but who is the 'number one team' is not really important for us.


Godman - The Renegades have a lot of players that tank, and move quickly extremely well. How will TC’s defense react to their pressure of always having to keep their eyes open?

Swit2427 - I don't know yet what will be our complete roster, because I announced the match today, but we will try to roam and catch their offense before they could get into the flagroom. Like you said, our defense will keep their eyes open!

Godman - Will you be choosing a map the team is used to, or a map to counter RNG’s offense and have more practices to get your team used to that map?


Swit2427 - Blackout will not be a surprise! There is no secret, Blackout is the typical map for TC, and we are not picking that map to be strategic, we just love it a lot. I remember a little more than a year ago, we tried other maps in our practices, but Blackout has always been our favorite map.


Godman - Alright last question, what is your score prediction of the upcoming match?


Swit2427 - It's hard to say because both teams have good players, but I will say: 3-2 (TC), 1-3 (RNG), 2-1 (TC).


Godman - Okay, thank you for the interview.


Final Scores: 5-1 RNG 2-0 RNG
Overall: Renegades Win! PotG @inposed

[Official] Renegades vs Diligence

Article by @Foodcourt

This match, one of two matches of the weekend, drew a lot of attention. For one, this marked the third time in two months an official match was scheduled and played and secondly, there was a lot of uncertainty regarding the two teams. Both teams being relatively new and only playing in a few officials prior; there was a lot of excitement and interest regarding how these two teams would perform.


The match began with an interesting and uncommon map pick by Diligence, Soul. Within the first two minutes of the match 5ive_Head (Soldier) stole and went down to damage, which opened up a back steal from _Pai (Soldier) which would lead to a capture with only three minutes elapsed in map one. Three minutes later, however, Diligence’s leader, Kayrex, responded by essentially solo capping as Soldier to even the score at one-a-piece. The score would remain even for a few minutes, with great roaming play from Yami as Assassin on Diligence’s side doing a great job stalling Renegade’s offense and an incredibly strong Recovs-BM5 combination for Renegades. The tie was broken when Recovs was able to get a clean Ninja steal from _Pai’s distraction, leading to a second capture for Renegades. Soul would remain tied for approximately five minutes, with many steals coming through but none of them developing. Finally, Azol (Chemist) was able to break free and hand off a capture to Smqckeddd (Medic) for a 3-1 victory for Renegades on Dilgience’s map pick.


Moving onto the second map, a much more conventional map was chosen by the Renegades, Skyworlds I. Historically being a very defense biased map due to spawn’s proximity to the flagroom and its Archer friendly layout, it was pretty easy to predict this map would last the entire time. A few meaningless steals came through before finally Kayrex was able to get a relatively clean ninja steal with around two minutes gone. After getting the heal from the Medic, it looked like we would see a quick first cap from Diligence, until BM5 landed a headshot leading to a recovery, effectively bailing out Renegade’s defense. Three minutes later, _Pai (Soldier) was able to get out of the enemy flagroom and do an excellent job of blocking Yami’s assassinate before eventually getting restored. On the other side, however, Fatmog (Soldier) was able to get a steal and make it past mid before being headshot once again by BM5. During this time, Diligence’s flag ended up in the hands of Azol (Elf) and it looked like we were heading for a potential stalemate situation. This time, EczemaPrincess (Soldier) was able to pick up the flag after BM5’s headshot, but ended up getting knocked into the void by Recovs (Ninja) a few seconds later, leading to Renegade’s first capture. Not even a minute later, Recovs (Ninja) was able to get another steal and pass it off to 5ive_Head (Soldier). Despite a very good effort from the Diligence recovery, whittling 5ive’s health down to half a heart, Renegades would walk it in for their second capture of map two. After this capture the map stalled out with both defenses holding pretty strong throughout the rest of Skyworlds. Smqckeddd (Medic) had the opportunity to get the third capture, but time ran out just as he was approaching his team’s flagroom, ending the map in a 3-0 victory for Renegades.


With the final score being 3-1 (Soul), 2-0 (Skyworlds I), it would appear the match was pretty lopsided, but, if a few things went differently, the game could have had a much different ending. If Diligence was able to hold on to the flag during _Pai’s steal on Skyworlds forcing a stalemate, the match had the potential to have a very different outcome. However, credit has to be given to the roaming defense of Renegades allowing only one capture through two maps and stellar offensive performances from _Pai and the player of the game, 5ive_Head.



Final Scores: 3-1 RNG 2-0 RNG
Overall: Renegades Win! PotG @5ive_Head

[Official] Citrix vs Renegades


Final Scores: 3-0 CX 3-1 CX
Overall: Citrix Win! PotG @???

[Official] Olympus vs Citrix​

Article by @auromelt (I am so sorry this article is so long there was just a lot to write about.. I hope u enjoy reading it!! ;u

This looked to be an exciting match. Olympus, a team with undeniable PvP prowess and excellent coordination, was facing off against Citrix, a rather new and underrated team with many talented players. This was Citrix's second official match, and with new additions such as Kryzzl, Avetis and wulfi playing for them it was exciting to see how they would perform. On the other hand, Olympus had their usual roster of players, with players such as Foodcourt, APliterature and iceman. Both teams had strong coordinators which would definitely make the match more interesting, as this would mean that both teams would be able to employ different strategies to ensure that they would be able to adapt to the other team’s playstyle.


The first map was Olympus’s pick, Metro, a defensive-based map. This map seemed to be evenly matched between both teams as both teams had strong pvpers. Both Citrix and Olympus adopted a more roamy defense, with 1 ninja, 2 heavies and an assassin roaming outside the flagroom while only a pyro and a medic stayed in the flagroom itself. Olympus also ran APliterature on mage instead of an additional person on offense. With a mage, they placed a bigger emphasis on stalling and disrupting, with APliterature able to split up and zone out their offense rather easily.


Olympus’s offense consisted of a medic, a soldier, a heavy and a chemist. Citrix ran a squishier offense, with elf being played in place of a soldier. The elf theoretically would be able to provide increased utility and support for Citrix’s offense, being able to use water element to enable the offense to get around the other team’s pyro with ease. However, Olympus had more steal and clear pressure running a bulkier offense, being able to take out the relatively squishy roaming defense (in the form of ninjas and assassins).


The first map, Metro, starts out slow, with both teams getting few successful pushes and even fewer successful steals, due to the defensive nature of the map. However, on one successful push, Exeadra manages to steal and get out as soldier and with the help of his team, he manages to get across the map without dying, securing the first capture for Citrix.


Some small steals come out from either side, but none of them result in a capture for either team.


The second capture occurs when TheFatalBest manages to steal the flag, swiftly making his way out of the flagroom as Elf. Kryzzl is also there as medic to support him, giving TheFatalBest both a heal and a restore. Maneuvering his way across the map with Wind element, he is able to secure the second capture of the match.


A possible third capture for Citrix presents itself 14 minutes in when Exeadra distracts as ninja while Avetis manages to get the flag and pearl out. Avetis goes to the right train car but instantly dies due to damage. Flaze is there but he is not able to pick it up as he was caught in a mage freeze spell, resulting in a recovery. However, TheFatalBest is there for a backup steal and with the pyro to the right, he goes out through the left side fairly cleanly and starts to make his way across the map. Before he is able to get too far, he is frozen by APliterature. Thankfully, his support has arrived and easily gets the medic heal and restore. He continues on, undeterred, dodging Ducksfan's webs. Unfortunately, he gets caught in one while using his Wind element. This slows him down a lot and allows for the recovery to catch up with him.


At this point it gets rather messy, with both teams scrambling to recover and support. In the end, TheFatalBest does not receive the medic restore and is overpowered by the Olympus recovery in the enclosed train car area, resulting in a recovery.


Shortly after this, both Ducksfan101 and Bryson manage to make it into the red team's flagroom. Ducksfan101 knocks the pyro away and picks up the flag, running to the left train car. As the pyro and medic are still focused on Bryson - who is still alive and scrimmaging in the flagroom - Ducksfan is able to get out quite cleanly. However, Avetis cuts off Ducksfan and hits him back into the awaiting pyro and medic. Ducksfan, stuck in the back of the train car, is unable to escape and goes down.


Both teams attempt to capture, resulting in steals from both sides, but they are soon shut down by the strong roaming defense. At this point of time, CollegeDegree is subbed out for CakeInASuit, who is an engineer. CakeInASuit also roams far up on the map, bombarding Olympus’s offense with TNT.


However, one minute till the end of the map, Flaze manages to get in and out of the flagroom as Chemist, being able to knock away both the pyro and the medic to steal. He goes out to the left side, avoiding Paddishly’s assassinate but is promptly webbed by Ducksfan101 and taken down as he has no medic nearby.


With only 22 seconds left on the clock, both teams hold out on defense and prevent any ninja steals for coming out for either side. Therefore the first map ends in a 2-0, in favour of Citrix.


The second map, American Fort, was a strange map pick. Being a newer map, veterans were not as well-versed in it compared to other classic picks such as Blackout or OCV. As a result of this, the map seemed to heavily favour Citrix, as the Citrix players knew the map inside and out, knowing how to play around it very well. The map seemed to suit their team’s playstyle as well, being mainly centered around both elf and chemist play. Citrix ran the same offense that they did on the first map, with TheFatalBest as elf and Flaze as chemist, along with stefas as medic, along with Avetis as ninja and wulfi as heavy who both roamed up occasionally. Olympus on the other hand, ran a conventional offense, with a heavy, a soldier and a medic. For defense, both teams ran the same thing, with APliterature switching onto assassin instead of mage and Paddishly going archer.


The map starts off slow again, with neither team getting any successful steals. However, 2 minutes into American Fort, TheFatalBest gets a great steal as elf whole Flaze is distracting the pyro and manages to get out of the flagroom with the use of Wind element. He paths towards the right corner sponge and is promptly promptly launched to the middle. Before he lands, he uses even more arrows to propel himself further to the river area. This ensured that he would be closer to his support, as they were also around the river area, and that he would not get caught on the trees when the ninjas tried to recover or chase after him.


Upon landing, Flaze immediately gives him regen and turns around to kill a ninja that was trying to recover. TheFatalBest makes it across the river cleanly via the lily pads, shielding midway so as to avoid getting headshot. His medic, stefas, who was on the other side, runs forward to give him both a heal and a restore. He continues to run towards his flagroom, narrowly avoiding another two potential headshots from Paddishly, shielding when necessary to reflect both ninja pearls and headshots, before ducking into the flagroom to secure the first capture on American Fort.


At this point of time, Olympus decides that their strategy simply is not working and they switch up both their offense and their defense, with Bryson going ninja on offense in order to better take care of Citrix's roaming ninjas and LegendOfPinkLink going Chemist in order to better deal with Citrix's grounded offense.


As a result of this, TheFatalTiger, who is the defensive medic of Citrix starts to roam up a bit more too so that she can heal the ninjas, allowing them to sustain the damage taken from the heavy (Schokie) and the ninja (Bryson). This works out extremely well as both the ninjas stay alive and are able to dish out even more damage to the Olympus offense, effectively preventing them from coming anywhere close to the flagroom.


After a few successful pushes from the Citrix side, LegendOfPinkLink decides to go engineer so as to dish out even more damage to them.


3 minutes into the second map, TheFatalBest steals again as Elf. However, as his support is not nearby, he goes down to a pyro frenzy. On the other side, Bryson manages to steal as soldier, but also goes down due to damage.


Around 4 minutes into the map, Citrix's carry CakeInASuit arrives as a substitute for CollegeDegree. CakeInASuit goes Engineer so as to completely annihilate Olympus's offense. Also around this point of time, Flaze steals as Chemist and takes the corner sponge to mid, however he sadly goes down to the assassin. A few more small steals come out on Citrix's side, but none of them result in a capture.


8 minutes and 30 seconds into the map, TheFatalBest gets another great steal as elf, and with his support he is able to get out of the flagroom, taking the right corner sponge again. His medic is waiting for him and lands both the heal and the restore. As a result, TheFatalBest manages to secure the second capture of the match.


2 minutes later, Citrix manages to break through on offense. TheFatalBest ends up stealing the flag again, and using his wind element he is able to get out of the flagroom and easily make it past the middle.


With no counter steals coming out from the side of Olympus and TheFatalBest securing the third and final capture of the map, the match ends in a 2-0, 3-0 in favour of CX. The player of the game went to TheFatalBest for his impeccable elf gameplay and being such a powerhouse on offense. In conclusion, both teams played well, showcasing their different strengths and gameplay styles. Even though Olympus did not end up getting any captures, they still managed to put up a good fight against Citrix with great roaming defense which really stalled the Citrix offense and prevented them from getting easy captures, while Ducksfan101 made some excellent individual plays to halt Citrix from getting a few captures. Good job to Citrix for having a good performance overall and being able to utilise their strengths in order to play in such an effective manner.


Final Scores: 2-0 CX 3-0 CX
Overall: Citrix Win! PotG @TheFatalBest

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