S21 FINALS! Introductions and Predictions!

[Seksi]

Well, I'll start off with my introductions and predictions for this Season 21 Grand Final!

Map: Harvest of Sorrow

I really like the map choice for this season's final.  Typically, I am not a huge fan of Harvest (at least with 4 players).  It is a huge map that may have too much gold for a 4-way, often leading to long and drawn out games.  However, with this final being 6 players, I like the map a lot more with each spawn being filled.  It has almost everything you'd want in a FFA game (many creeps, expansions, markets, shops, goblin labs).  It will be interesting to see how each player's style meshes with this bigger map full of FFA goodies. 

Introductions:

First off, representing Peru, we have Zs.SuperCumulo.  He is actually a long time FFA player.  I am happy to see him in the finals.  Some may not know this, but I actually introduced him to FML after playing many custom FFA games on BNet years ago (long before the start of PlayFFA).  He has always been a good solo player, and an aggressive FFA player using mixed armies with strong micro.  He is not afraid to push the pace in attempt to dictate the game in his favor, even using unconventional second hero choices like Naga or Beastmaster to streamline his game.  I am interested to see how he will adapt his strategy on a bigger map with the highest stakes. 

Next is Renaud, the other player representing the Americas in this season's finals.  Hailing from Canada, he is the only one with an FML season title under his belt.  His manner is cool and calm, often passive and non-confrontational.  His style has proven successful, as he doesn't start feuds (unless you creep jack him) and chooses his actions wisely.  It is often this type of player (smart, very good macro and scouting, but with less than top level micro) who wins FML games.  Those who fight the best often find themselves being teamed, same as those who are too aggressive or dominant.  Renaud finds himself in a nice spot where he can battle with the best while still staying under the radar.  He may conserve his gold better then anyone, and this map should suit him well. 

Moving on to the Europeans, from Denmark we have zTsoso.  Soso has improved from a raw but talented player to one of the top FFA players we have today.  He has taken his craft seriously and steadily put up impressive performances to get him to the finals now.    I would say he is one of the hardest working players in our community.  His game is solid in all facets.  If I can point out a flaw, it may be his ability to conserve gold is not always consistent.  But he likes to fight and take control of the game, especially once his heroes are high level.  Harvest should be a good map for him as well, and it may just be his time for victory. 

Our first Orc representative in this season's finals is Nline, from the Ukraine.  Nline is one of the true old school players.  He has played in multiple finals yet never taken one down.  Part of that reason is the fact the he plays the almighty Orc race that has been doomed in FML finals so far.  I've played with Nline for years, and I can say that he is almost always a pleasure to compete against.  Well mannered and skilled, he will surely be an entertaining factor in this game.  I am looking for him to play a solid game from start to finish, scouting will be key as well as conserving gold to be able to compete against the Humans and Elf in the late game.  If he gets rolling and escapes early game trouble he may be an unstoppable force in the later stages.

Our next contestant is none other then the almighty Fetta_Ook, from Sweden.  (Does that mean cheese Orc?)  His road to the finals was probably the least expected, but he has improved as a player and is almost always underestimated.  As we know, those who are underestimated, but with the capability of winning often do so.  I see him as a likely tome for one of the other players, but the map is big and gold a plenty.  If he can survive the early to mid game, look for Fetta to be crafty and be a contender in the end.  One thing that Fetta does have going for him is a train of supporters! Can he keep his momentum going? We will soon find out.

Last but not least, also from Sweden is Junkerzam.  Junker is a cool player, with a unique style.  He can play random and enjoys fighting before talking.  Also a bit of an underdog in this game, look for Junker to exceed some expectations and fight well, using cunning tactics to advance himself into the late game.  It will be interesting to see if he plays Random or chooses a race, and which hero combo he goes with.  Always entertaining, I believe he is the wild card in this game.  At times he can play extremely well and is unpredictable.   

Lastly, the fact that XoZ_Magadansky is not a part of this season's finals has to feel like a golden opportunity for these contestants.  Renaud took him out to earn his spot in the finals.  Maga is one of the most dominant FML players ever, so his exclusion probably makes the road to victory seem a little bit easier.  The competition is still stiff however, these players are very talented and the game will surely be tough.  I'm looking forward to what should be a great and exciting game. 

Predictions:

This game could really go any way, each player has a unique style that should mesh well and provide thrilling drama.  Cumulo, Soso, and Nline can all fight at the highest level, while the other's are no slouches either.  I predict that Nline will play really well and use his experience to be one of the final contenders.  I also believe Soso will be in it at the end.  I would like to see Cumulo be there too, but I am not sure how his game will go.  Unfortunately for Junker and Fetta, I believe they will be the first two eliminated.  But remember that the under dogs have a distinct advantage in being over looked or possibly underestimated.  I see the power houses duking it out and ultimately Renaud taking the win with proper macro and timely scouting for his second FML title!  Of course this prediction is far from certain as any one of these players can take it down.  It's nice to see a 6-player final, and we are all excited to see how it plays out!

gl!

Zs.SuperCumulo
  Renaud:
ztsoso
Nline
Fetta
Junkerzam

[Seksi]

Edited; added to it. 

[DV-]

Im happy if soso, nline or renaud wins. Great players.
Cumulo had 2 freewins with his oppo doing bs. Not his fault, but cant root for him in finals.
Id root for junker if he wins his solo not taking advantage by interfere someones war.
I dont see fetta wining his solo. Probably gonna sit and interfere/or cry once he gets attacked by nline/soso/cumulo/renaud.

GLHF

[letshavesomefun]

Since noone cares about losers i will only introduce fetta_ook.

We all know him
We all love him
We all fear him

But who is the person behind the Account: FETTA_OOK?

Everyone in our Comunity has a different Opinion of Fetta. We call him our leader, savior,hero, our Future.
Older Players From ancient Patches, like Fly,Pencilwarrior or Darknesscalls, expected his appearence calling him the chosen one.

I knew i needed to find out more about Fetta so I asked someone who close to him to meet with me. His old roomate Junkerzam.

My journey to Sweden started last weekend.
I didnt exactly know what to expect.
My family and friends warned me to go there since i had to pass Denmark.
All i knew about denmark is that 50% of the population are sardistic ud players and the other 50% are Gingers.
Was it a test?
A test for me? to proof wheter iam worthy enough to visit the place of his birth?
I knew i couldnt back down from this.
He did so much for all of us so i just had to take the risk.
Right after i crossed to boarder to Denmark my phone rang.
It was Ztsoso telling me he knew i was about to visit fetta in Sweden.
He wanted me to interview him and write smth about him since he also qualified for the FML final.

                                                           Part 1 Ends

Vote for the next part: I meet soso and interview him y or no

[Ponty]

Mmh i'd say to not lose any time with futures losers, but we never know he might tell you some things about mighty fetta

so i vote yes

[ZsSuperCumulo]

Nice introduction Seksi :) back then in 2008,2009 life was so much fun, just warcraft 3 and school :_).

As for the predictions, I think Renaud and ZtSoso are the most favorites and that's because their long trayectory in the scene + they really have a more stablished notion of how ffa should be played.

In general it'll be a great game, maybe fetta and junkz can show up some potential hidden skills, after all they are orcs and that race is broken in ffa lol.

Yes shave, continue please :)

[Tleilaxu]

Given that this is a 6 way final, I just don't see Fetta surviving very long. Other players will be more aware of him and not casually let him rebuild.

Nline's style is one of my favorites, just balls to the walls aggression with little regard to his gold bank, but that may also be his downfall as more passive players may decide to team him out should he become too strong.

Cumulo has very good micro, but as DV said, he got two free wins, so it's hard to judge his overall FFA skill. We'll just have to see I guess.

Renaud is as has been stated a very experienced and very smart FFA player, but I think his mechanical skill is not up to par with some of the other heavy contenders in this game, and a smart, mechanically strong player might decide to rush him out.

Junker is not entirely bad, but he's still kinda scrubby, so while I don't think he's going to get rushed out instantly, I think he might not be able to get into the favorable position with superior gold that lead him to win previous matches.

And lastly, there's soso. Good micro, good FFA sense, very good scouting, but I think he sometimes gets stressed out in longer matches that count more.

It's impossible to talk about predictions without considering the very map that will be played on. Harvest is a map that has 6 spawns, so I think that automatically leads to a disadvantage for some of our more passive players like Renaud, since they're less likely to get left alone in the early/mid game.
Further more, the creep spots and market places on this map contain some very imbalanced hero items that could lead to a blademaster critical strike train that never stops.
That's why I have to say that I consider Nline to be the most likely winner of this match.


@Shave: YES.

[Seksi]

Nice response Tleilaxu, good points.  Though I do think the map is big enough to still favor players like Renaud.  At the least, each player can have 2 expos (natural + 1 center ring) and most will have 3 (there are 4 contested expos in the middle).

An example is the FML Final I was in (on this map) with Persuade, j33, and Mog.  Mog attempted to rush me with 100 food Bear/Dryad while I was under food, but couldn't capitalize due to the size of the map.  I ended up building a leading advantage only to lose to j33's amazing placement of a hidden tree on a cliff.  Point is it was difficult for Mog to rush someone out early. 

I may be wrong, but I think the players will be reluctant to go 100 food early with all the expos and creeps available. 

I agree with most of everything else you said! Should be a good one

[AlienWareOwnZ]

Really looking forward to this final GLHF all!

I vote yes

[fetta_ook]

I'm open for interviews, either f2f or over Skype, just holler at me

[letshavesomefun]

"Only 3 things are Infinite:
The universe, human stupidity and my respect for fetta_ook"
@Ztsoso 2015

"Kids are wearing Superman Pyjamas for sleeping, but Superman wears a fetta_ook Pyjama"
@DV- 2015 (after lubing his a hole)

"There are only 2 kind of persons, Fetta_ook and people that wanna be Fetta_ook"
@Tleilaxu 2014

 "Life is about making an impact, not making an income."
@Fetta_ook 2015 (when asked why he plays the fml final instead of the wca finale)

With these Quotes i would like to begin Part 2 of my journey

I tried to explain Ztsoso that i had no time to waste for an interview with him.
I already wanted to drop the call when he suddenly cought my attention.
He told me that explorers discovered ancient writings in a mountain hole near copenhagen.
Apparently it was a prophecy mentioning that a chosen one would appear in the FFA universe.
Soso was short in details but it appeared that for over a thousand years FFA was dominated by Human and Undead Players.
The prophercy mentioned a third race standing up to those too.
Led by a Player called the chosen one.
Could that be Fetta?
Was he here to bring balance to the force of FFA?
I told soso iam interested in seeing him and i would like to check out those writings by myself.
But first of all I had to do some digging myself!
Was FFA really been dominated for over 1000 years by Undead and Human Players?
I had to find a player who lived long enough to comentate that statement.
So i called Valefort.
Valefort told me about 2 Players called Yane and Htrt.
Retired a long time ago.
He said they are the reason why there is so much hate between human and undead players and the biggest competition between these races.
And suddenly i saw clearly!
All my friends are Human Players just like me.
I avoid Undead Players as good as i can.
I thought its only me who dislikes undeads....but apparently its every human player.
So who are these Players called Yane and Htrt?
Valefort told me to find yane i have to go to a place called Garena and search for smth. called "Custom Footy".

Should i meet this yane guy before i visit Ztsoso? Or continue my journey without meeting him and directly meet soso to learn more about the prophercy about fetta?

Vote now!

[Peregrine]

yes meet yane!

[Dovekie]

My 2 cents.

GO ELF.

ALL ORCS MUST DIE.

[FML|Renaud]

My 2 cents.

GO ELF.

ALL ORCS MUST DIE.

Agreed