RTS-League: Clan Leagues for Strategy Gamers

Grand Finals of RTS League's Age of Mythology: The Titans Clan League, Season 24 are getting ever closer, and everybody is expecting one of the greatest clashes in (not only) recent history. With the way 2k for jesus stormed into the last fight of the season, sporting a line-up of condensed skill headed by TheMista, they seem to be the favourites to claim their first Gold ever, but they also possess a rather rich history (also as MpT) of choking right at the last moment! Deities of Death, on the other hand, are multiple-times Champions and know how to handle themselves under pressure, housing similar amount of experts in their deep roster, allowing them to respond to various specific situations with real power, so in the end, finding real favourites in this stacked match-up is real tricky, as this match promises to be an epic experience that can very easily go either way.

But that's just our outlook, and you and the clans sure have other ideas about who and why should win, so it's time to get down to the bottom of it, to find the truth, time for questions to be asked, and answers to be posted - and who else should be more qualified to speak about the two great clans facing each other in the Grand Finals than their leaders, [JSS]Count_Von_Count and [DoD]J4Jc3?

Get ready, fasten your seatbelts, mods prepare the fire extinguishers, and here we go - it's time to learn the truth about who will win Season 24's Golden Banner (or is it?):

First of all, who will win the series and in how many games?

Count: Most definitely JSS! I do think DoD has some really good players. They perform well in teamgames and most of them are very nice guys. But honestly, do you think they can compete skill-wise with the JSS team? I don't think its coincidence that DoD had so much trouble beating LaD in the semi-finals. At this moment they are just not our level.  They might win one game, because they pull off something surprising. I think 3-1 for JSS would be a decent guess.

J4Jc3: Obviously DoD. We never lost to JSS/ex MpT before, there is no reason to lose now. I think we'll win 3-1, with our only loss being on Medi, because that’s just not a real map. Besides, we don't want JSS to die after RTSL, so we have to give them one win at least to keep the hope up.

Obviously DoD and JSS are both very successful clans, do you think they can be compared, or are they totally different?

Count: Very, very, very different! Firstly, JSS is not a clan, we are a Team. We have no clan-hierarchy, my teammates aren't obligated to visit a forum daily, nor is it possible to apply for JSS. Just before every RTSL-season we publish our roster for the next season. I know every other JSS player very well and appreciate them for who they are. That’s one of the reasons the atmosphere in our team is so awesome!

J4Jc3: They can't really be compared considering DoD is the greatest clan in the history of AOT and JSS is more of a "team" than a real clan. Besides, we've won RTSL so many times that I lost track of it, while JSS hasn't won a single season yet. That's like comparing Zeus full upped myrmidons with Odin's unupgraded TA. Yes, TA counter myrms like JSS’s gods counter us, but the difference in class is just too big.

Count/J4Jc3, it seems obvious the two of you manage your clans very differently. How would you describe J4Jc3/Count as a leader?

Count: J4Jc3 (Deni) reminds me of Sepp Blatter. The entire community knows he is corrupt. But no one seems to care. When I visited the DoD forum for the first time, the first topic I bumped into was named: "the clan-hierarchy". This topic contained a silly speech explaining where people "belong". At first it made me laugh, but when I took a closer look I realised how ridiculous it actually was. Also why is Shelty not in DoD-A? He’s probably the best player DoD has right now!?

Furthermore J4Jc3 likes to refer to himself as the "the dictator". He has been in charge of DoD for ages right now. DoD has won many titles and been an outstanding aot-clan since 2005. Even though I would feel very uncomfortable leading a clan like he does, it seems to be working very well.

J4Jc3: What Count did is construct a team of elitists who feel they are entitled to win an RTSL title. Even his own members feel they are pushed out of the clan if they do not perform as good as the JSS top three. I think we are all aware of Falco's story of not being allowed to participate in RTSL because he hasn't eaten a pizza with Count yet. What kind of a leader does that?

What do you think is the most effective way of managing a clan? By participating in RTSL yourself, or more as an outside observer?

Count: Both have pros & cons. By actual playing in the games myself I have better view of what actually happened at "our side" and of course it's easier to make calls in game. On the other hand it might narrow my point of view and I might be biased because it’s easier to blame others for your mistakes than admit you f*cked up yourself.

J4Jc3: I think I should be in the RTSL hall of fame for participating in most RTSL games, participating in most RTSL finals and winning most RTSL finals. That being said, when you participate in the game yourself, your decisions regarding team choice are compromised. Besides, I hate losing and by participating even my day-to-day decisions may be compromised. Therefore, it is best to put a highly respected clan member in the team who will take the lead while I'm managing the clan from the side.

Well. TheMista has been in DoD 2 seasons ago. In the Finals vs. TSM he pulled off some pretty strange tower-rush start with Odin. Actually how valuable is TheMista for a clan? And can he be trusted?

Count: Haha, that particular game was lost by Firefox. Themista actually did a very good job considering he was facing Player (the only 18+ player TSM has). Firefox on the other hand managed to lose his side vs Fen. I have no idea what precisely happened behind the scenes. But J4Jc3 is the guy in charge right? If Themista wouldn't listen, then just substitute him…

The fact that he can play random god and is the best active player atm, makes him a very important part of the team. But we have many important "parts". There is a reason why we didn't lose a single game yet this season. We managed to perform strong vs every clan in every game no matter who was playing. And that's a team-effort.

J4Jc3: While in DoD, Themis hasn't contributed to anything. He didn't post, he smurfed too much, he didn't put the DoD tag on the top of the ladder, he didn't play team games and he blew away the RTSL games. He betrayed the clan and got banned. That being said, I convinced him to apply for JSS and Count to accept him so we could crush him in RTSL, but unfortunately, we didn't meet until now. There is nowhere to run anymore.

Both teams seem to have a lot of solid players. Who do you fear the most? And who's the biggest "noob" at your oppo's team?

Count: Good question! Well, the guy I fear most is Titou. He has had many good performances and is the best at what he does. In contrast to Cyclone (LNC_Imonfire), Titou has better macro management and is therefore one of the guys I rather don't face.

Rangers has been underperforming this season so far, so I don't mind him playing. I did expect more of him. Also J4Jc3 himself is one of the guys I would like to face. The fact that he has very little understanding of any other god than Thor makes him a grateful victim.

J4Jc3: I normally fear Ert the most, because I tend to lose to his Ra a lot. But that's just because I play Thor, my players mostly play Oranos and Ert is bad against that, so my main fear is Count. He is skilled, experienced in TGs and takes the lead in his team. A team with someone in charge is very dangerous. But I'll appoint a team captain myself, so it won't really make any difference.

The biggest noob in JSS is definitely Chef. Although I can't really judge his skill considering it is not possible to play with him, from what I've seen, Chef cannot compete with the others.

How do you guys communicate in-game? Do you use a voice-chat and do you have a shot-caller?

Count: Yep, we use Skype while playing RTSL-matching. Communicating this way is way easier and faster than typing. I would advise every clan to do so.

Haha and yeah about the shot-calling. Most of the time me and Themista are shouting all kind of random things like "You have Idle vills over there!" or "I have the feeling that I'm gonna get doubled in x seconds!" and sometimes more directly like "Start micro'ing with your f*cking Turma!" Chef and Ert are more quiet and try to make all of Themis' and my wishes come true. I think in the medit game versus LNC Chef said at least 20 times "Aye Count/Themis, I'll take care of that."

J4Jc3: We don't use team speak and we mostly don't have a formal shot-caller (although I'll probably appoint one for the finals). Some players like myself, Rangers or Killerboy naturally talk a lot in game, but mostly it's an overall team effort.

It hasn't gone unnoticed that JSS won every single game at Medit with 3 Zeuses this season. Some say triple Bolt is just imbalanced and can't be countered. What do you think about the Bolt strategy? Will JSS use this start as well in the Finals? And will DoD have an answer?

Count: The triple bolt strategy started as a decent way to get rid of the teams with lots of Lag. We decided to bolt one guy into the graveyard and rush the other side to win in like 10min. If games against (no offense, but mostly Brazilian) clans get late-game, the lag is just unbearable.

Now we still use Medit because we know we are better at multi-tasking than our opponents. We can micro water, micro land and take care of our own economy, while some less-skilled opponents have trouble doing the same. Water maps are more complicated and therefore require more skill and a higher APM. I believe that JSS excels in both.

J4Jc3: I think triple bolt is extremely lame and should be fixed immediately in the balance patch. It should also be prohibited in RTSL. I think JSS will most likely use it again in the finals, but we have made extensive preparations to counter it.

Thanks for taking the time to share some insider insight into this eagerly anticipated match-up and gl&hf! The entire community is looking forward to the games!

Count: Thanks!

J4Jc3: Thx, looking forward to the games!


So, that's how the clan leaders see it. And how about you? Let us know!

And definitely follow us on our community channels to learn when the Grand Finals and other matches will be played and streamed live, as you don't want to miss any of the great fun!

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