So, i decided to kick the cobwebs of my MacBook and do my first blog for our new organisation WesternWolves, my team will be posting up a weekly blog talking about different matters close to that section of our heart reserved for gaming.
This week id like to do a short blog on the matter of teams striving for the perfect mix of 4 players in the team. Now its no secret to anyone that getting the best players available in your team guarantees a certain level of success, this is true for any sport. Now whether its the case that the best players make a good team great, or the case that only great teams can attract great players in the first place is another matter. What id like to talk about in this blog is what I feel is the perfect blend of players for a Call of Duty squad, and is something that I’ve been striving to create for the past couple of years.
The first player that any team needs is a captain, someone that I feel has got to have the most experience in any team, as he's the one that has to ultimately make the big calls, whether thats in game or out. For example, it could be a call to push a certain bomb site on last map in a tournament, or to join a new organisation ;). The captain is the one that everyone looks to when things aren't going right, your team mates will look to the captain to motivate them, to tell them theirs enough time to win, or that things aren't over. In my current team at the moment i’m the one that makes the bigger decisions, for example joining wW, negotiating contracts & also tend to be the one that cracks the whip and does the shouting to get people back on track. One other thing I’ll say about captains is make sure that you have the right one, as a lot of people like the idea and title of being captain a lot more then they’ll actually enjoy all the other work involved. That leads me onto player two who lend a helping hand with all of that.
Another extremely important player in any team is a second in command, now this players job is very similar to the captains and in many cases, for example my own team. Tobi does a lot of the work that a captain would do. This player is particularly important to me, as this is someone that you’ll want to keep with you no matter who the other two players are, and that is mirrored in myself and Tobi. We have teamed with the worst players on the game to the very best, and regardless of the outcome of the team, have stuck it out. The most important reason for this, is that you get to know each other very well. You’ll tend to speak a lot out-with gaming and that’ll come in handy in game. If you can guarantee at least that you'll have good chemistry in game between you and your second in command, then thats half the battle of any good team, I can promise you that.
A lot of people will have different opinions on the last two players, but here are my last two and heres why I think they are incredibly important.
My third player is one that must have a great deal of experience at the very highest level, and be able to offer the team something that no other member can, which is experience in something that none of them have; for example in my team that is Ellis aka Blackk. He is the only one of my team to have previously attended MLG, and its his experiences of that, that we are basically basing our whole play-style around. Ellis’ vision and ideas were something that Tobi and myself picked up on and decided that we wanted in our team, just after the launch of the new Call of Duty. Ellis is the strategy horse of our team, he comes up with spawn locks, rushes and call outs, which are the major things that every team has to have. Now I understand that a lot of teams wont know what there searching for when looking for this player. My biggest advice would be to pick someone up who has been to different LANs than other people, and hell provide a new perspective on each map.
The final player is to be honest the easiest one to recognise, he's the player that every other team wants to play with, and hates to play against. This is a player who has exceptional gun-skill, incredible initiative and explosive rushes. He’s the “Wow” factor of the team and you’ll normally find him with the most points, whether thats through flags, or just racking up the kills. This player is the one that the team has to set up around, they have to cover the map so that this player can do what he does best, get a 2 piece and a flag. This player for my team, is Peter aka DareDevil. Daredevil is a bit of an enigma at the moment as we are at the stage in the teams development where we are trying to mold him into something that will be next level. One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of teams make with regards to this player, is the have a team full of them. A lesson that has (I think) been learned by a few of the top players, is to fill a team with team players, and keep just 1 or 2 individuals at the maximum. This is because even though this player is the one that everyone wants on stream, wants to watch, you need an awesome team around him for it to function at all.
All 4 of the players are needed for the perfect mix in my opinion, they all contribute equally, and will play vital roles in the team. If you ever team with something that doesn't want to put in that extra 10% effort, doesn't want to help out with videos, strategies or write ups, then that player shouldn't be in your team. Another thing to bare in mind is that everyone will have their own perfect mix, their own way of making it work. The only way to prove who’s functions better, is LAN.
See you all there
Mak
This week id like to do a short blog on the matter of teams striving for the perfect mix of 4 players in the team. Now its no secret to anyone that getting the best players available in your team guarantees a certain level of success, this is true for any sport. Now whether its the case that the best players make a good team great, or the case that only great teams can attract great players in the first place is another matter. What id like to talk about in this blog is what I feel is the perfect blend of players for a Call of Duty squad, and is something that I’ve been striving to create for the past couple of years.
The first player that any team needs is a captain, someone that I feel has got to have the most experience in any team, as he's the one that has to ultimately make the big calls, whether thats in game or out. For example, it could be a call to push a certain bomb site on last map in a tournament, or to join a new organisation ;). The captain is the one that everyone looks to when things aren't going right, your team mates will look to the captain to motivate them, to tell them theirs enough time to win, or that things aren't over. In my current team at the moment i’m the one that makes the bigger decisions, for example joining wW, negotiating contracts & also tend to be the one that cracks the whip and does the shouting to get people back on track. One other thing I’ll say about captains is make sure that you have the right one, as a lot of people like the idea and title of being captain a lot more then they’ll actually enjoy all the other work involved. That leads me onto player two who lend a helping hand with all of that.
Another extremely important player in any team is a second in command, now this players job is very similar to the captains and in many cases, for example my own team. Tobi does a lot of the work that a captain would do. This player is particularly important to me, as this is someone that you’ll want to keep with you no matter who the other two players are, and that is mirrored in myself and Tobi. We have teamed with the worst players on the game to the very best, and regardless of the outcome of the team, have stuck it out. The most important reason for this, is that you get to know each other very well. You’ll tend to speak a lot out-with gaming and that’ll come in handy in game. If you can guarantee at least that you'll have good chemistry in game between you and your second in command, then thats half the battle of any good team, I can promise you that.
A lot of people will have different opinions on the last two players, but here are my last two and heres why I think they are incredibly important.
My third player is one that must have a great deal of experience at the very highest level, and be able to offer the team something that no other member can, which is experience in something that none of them have; for example in my team that is Ellis aka Blackk. He is the only one of my team to have previously attended MLG, and its his experiences of that, that we are basically basing our whole play-style around. Ellis’ vision and ideas were something that Tobi and myself picked up on and decided that we wanted in our team, just after the launch of the new Call of Duty. Ellis is the strategy horse of our team, he comes up with spawn locks, rushes and call outs, which are the major things that every team has to have. Now I understand that a lot of teams wont know what there searching for when looking for this player. My biggest advice would be to pick someone up who has been to different LANs than other people, and hell provide a new perspective on each map.
The final player is to be honest the easiest one to recognise, he's the player that every other team wants to play with, and hates to play against. This is a player who has exceptional gun-skill, incredible initiative and explosive rushes. He’s the “Wow” factor of the team and you’ll normally find him with the most points, whether thats through flags, or just racking up the kills. This player is the one that the team has to set up around, they have to cover the map so that this player can do what he does best, get a 2 piece and a flag. This player for my team, is Peter aka DareDevil. Daredevil is a bit of an enigma at the moment as we are at the stage in the teams development where we are trying to mold him into something that will be next level. One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of teams make with regards to this player, is the have a team full of them. A lesson that has (I think) been learned by a few of the top players, is to fill a team with team players, and keep just 1 or 2 individuals at the maximum. This is because even though this player is the one that everyone wants on stream, wants to watch, you need an awesome team around him for it to function at all.
All 4 of the players are needed for the perfect mix in my opinion, they all contribute equally, and will play vital roles in the team. If you ever team with something that doesn't want to put in that extra 10% effort, doesn't want to help out with videos, strategies or write ups, then that player shouldn't be in your team. Another thing to bare in mind is that everyone will have their own perfect mix, their own way of making it work. The only way to prove who’s functions better, is LAN.
See you all there
Mak
zauron
The Mak
