Ritalin — As far as National teams are concerned, there is no bigger fixture in the TF2 calendar. That’s right, the ETF2L 6v6 Nations Cup Grand Final between England and Sweden is going down live tonight on VanillaTV! Serving as a taster for big things to come in Season 13, the summer tournament has thus far been a rousing success and both teams will no doubt be giving it their all in an effort to take home the $1234 cash prize generously offered by Angel.
The two teams haven’t met since the last ETF2L Nations Cup all the way back at the tail end of 2009, where Sweden emerged victorious in the semi-final with close 4-3 and 3-2 wins on cp_badlands and cp_granary respectively. Times have changed since then however, and as such, so have both rosters. With that in mind, let’s have a look at what to expect tonight!
Pre-tournament favourites England reach the final after a slight wobble against Denmark last week; the Danes caused problems on certain maps, but ultimately the English were able to show their superiority and pull out a comfortable win. The only other real test England have faced so far has been Germany, a narrow, hard-fought match that ended 4-3 in their favour on both maps. With regards to their lineup, England are sticking with the tried and trusted six that have got them this far (save for their group stage game against Hungary where Fish subbed in), featuring TwistedPlay’s Boomeh and Greg, alongside Decerto scout Stark. It’s hard to pick out one to watch in this team, but if Numlocked is on his usual impressive form, then his opposite number will have to play his very best in order to keep up.
TheSucker
Lynx
Jukebox
Zebbosai
Nace
Wltrs
The Swedes paved their way to the final after beating a Kritz-happy Russian team in an epic 3 map showdown, as well as triumphing over two-time, current reigning ETF2L champions Finland in the playoffs. Sweden will also be feeling a massive morale lift from their success against USA in the semi-final last week. Star soldier Jukeboxx and the ever-modest Zebbosai have been dominant as a soldier pairing throughout the entirity of the cup, and one would expect them to make a real difference in tonight’s match, so keep an eye out for them. Although the Blågult might not be favourites for this match, a win for them would certainly not be surprising to anyone, especially considering their form in this tournament as well as their sky-high confidence.
I caught up with team leaders Zebbosai and Numlocked to get their thoughts on tonight’s match:
Zebbosai : I think we’ve got a good chance to beat England. Individually, I think 5 of our players are better then theirs but of course Lynx doesn’t have the same amount of experience as the rest so we gotta help him out focus down Numlocked and we should be able to take this. We have a lot of fun when we play together which has helped us get far in the tournament, and of course we have a really strong team. The only team that I was worried about on paper was Finland and we already beat them. As for our game plan, we’re just going do our normal stuff and try to focus down their demo a bit more then usual maybe.
Numlocked : I think we’ll do very well tonight. On the few occasions we’ve practiced against them it’s gone very well in our favour, so if that’s anything to go by I’d say we’ve got a good chance. Zebbosai could have a big impact for Sweden. He’s gonna be looking to shut me down a lot. As for strategy, I’m just going to call something as and when I see fit for a change in our normal gameplay. Or just send Greg for backcaps, that works.
The fact that both teams are so equal makes this one of the most exciting upcoming matches. Be sure to join Admirable, djc and Comedian dual casting alongside Pledge,Skully and HeavyIsGPS on VanillaTV at 21:15cettonight!
Originally published on VanillaTV (vanillatf2.org) on 2012-09-16 by Shitalin.
Recovered from the Internet Archive (archived copy) as part of tf2esports.com's preservation of VanillaTV's TF2 coverage. The original site is no longer online. All rights remain with the original author; reposted for historical reference.