Southeastern Team Championship

I know I know.. the blog is called Midwestwargaming not Southeasternwargaming, but I can’t help myself about being excited about this upcoming Guild Ball tournament! For starters, team tournaments are an amazing format that everybody should try at least once. The other reason I’m excited; 13 of the top 50 players in the US are attending this event! This is going to be one of the most competitive stateside tournaments in 2018 and I’ll be damned if something silly like geography is going to keep me from writing about it.

 

Favorites to win

Atlanta 1

The Atlanta Guild Ball meta isn’t actually that large so these three don’t have the benefit of being able to practice against a wide array of opponents but they do have one big weapon, Brian White. Brian is currently the Longshanks Leader of Georgia as well as being the 8th ranked player in the world. A humble hero, Brian White doesn’t actually rate himself as a favorite to win, but history in wargaming has taught me to never underestimate Brian . The team’s vice captain, Gabriel Rosauro, definitely wants to win. Gabriel has been on a spree of securing 2nd place finishes lately and he’s tired of silver. While usually a Fish player, he is strategically anchoring his go-to-team so that he doesn’t have to face off against Vet Decimate and the Engineers matchup. A solid tactician, and a frequent sparring partner to Brian White, Gabriel’s no pushover. His biggest weakness will be hunger; he forgets to eat. But that’s where the team anchor comes in to play. Allen Bradley is definitely the definition of a mediocre gamer but he performs a vital role to the team: chauffeur and sherpa. Brian White is a notorious light weight and it’s Allen’s job to guide Brian back to his table when he inevitably wanders off in a drunken stupor and to forcefeed Gabriel when he gets hangry.

Beer City

Quite the opposite of Atlanta, these Carolina country boys live in an area with a strong Guild Ball presence and practice is something they have in surplus. John is the #1 ranked Longshanks leader from North Carolina and Pete has been climbing that ladder and is currently ranked third in South Carolina. John Stokes is also the best Hunters players in the United States and while the rest of the South has waved the white flag and abandoned them John held his ground. Out of 36 players, he is the sole Hunter and this might give him in advantage because people are going to be getting into a rhythm of playing against Brewers and Union.

Pete “the pride of the South” Kain is a true southern gentleman. His kind words and southern hospitality will coax his opponents into a false sense of safety before he ruthlessly rips them apart, piece by piece, with Veteran Decimate. The only weakness Pete & John may have this weekend is rage-withdrawls. Normally, these two heavy-hitters are accompanied by Chris Yuen, table-flipper-titan.

But instead, they’ve got Chad Dickenson. Chad’s inclusion is an unsolved mystery. When confronted with questions about Chad, both Pete and John pleaded the 5th amendment and had no comments. Will this mystery man be their downfall or is Chad the secret weapon of the South?

Northern Aggression

Northern Aggression is a triple-threat force to be reckoned with. Starting with the Carpet Bagger himself, Mike Klein is New York’s #1 ranked player, the current keep of the coveted “Best Mason player” badge and is ranked #4 in the world. If there was a chink in Mike’s armor it is his hubris, Mike’s been spending so much time polishing his trophy case, trolling in the wank dungeon and churning out podcasts with questionable audio that he’s forgotten to practice.

Frank “The Fish” Kumitis, holds the #1 rank in New Jersey and is respected amongst the top players as being the best Cosair player in the US. And unlike Mike, Frank is workaholic when it comes to Guild Ball prep. The only thing this Jersey boy loves more than hard work is his dream girl, Snooki.

Not to be shown up by his teammates is Jared McGraw, #1 ranked player in Virginia and notorious nice-guy in the Guild Ball community. Word on the street though is that Jared’s done playing nice and he’s hungry for wins. Tired of running from the GUBS police, this Virginia vigilante is ready to stand his ground and unleash a can of uncensored whoop-ass.

Dojo-1

Only an idiot would forget to consider the undefeated team and winner of last year’s Southereastern Team Championship in the conversation. Mike Rhodes is the Longshanks Leader of South Carolina and a huge pain in the ass for other teams tacticians. This guy will literally pick his lineup at random and sing you a drunken diddy while he’s doing it. But don’t let his tomfoolery trick you, there’s a reason they call Mike “The Drunken Master”.

Joshua White is the team’s vice captain and he’s tired of being overshadowed by Brian White. Josh is undoubtedly the best Ballista player in the country and #1 Engineer player in the country. He’s currently fending off Pete Kain for the #2 spot in South Carolina. Josh is banking on another undefeated win this year so that people will truly learn which White is right.

And holding up the rear is Jake Smith. Jake is essentially the Allen Bradley of Dojo-1. He’ll snag the snacks and bring the beer but can he win games? Based on last year’s results the answer is yes and considering he’s armed himself this year with Vet Decimate, I’d say the odds are definitely in Dojo-1’s favor for another undefeated repeat.

 

Underdog to watch

Nashville-ish

 

If you aren’t from the South than you probably aren’t giving this team a second-thought, but Southerners know to fear Joshua Nichols. Joshua is currently Tennessee’s #1 ranked player, and has earned the title the Hero of Hammer. It would not be unexpected to see Joshua go undefeated at this tournament and if he does he just needs one of his two teams to step up for Nashville-ish to win it all.

Mark Goodman, the team rookie, is not a master anything. Instead, he has spent the last six tournaments playing a different team for each tournament. This will be Mark’s first tournament with Union and while this strategy will likely backfire on him if he is forced into a mirror matchup vs a more experience Union coach, Mark is confident he won’t be caught off guard when playing against the other guilds.

The last member of this underdog team is Jared Turner. Jared started his Guild Ball career wandering aimlessly from guild to guild but ever since SteamCon 2017 Jared’s found his place with the Blacksmiths. The Blacksmiths are not a common guild being played at this tournament and that bit of obscurity might be enough for Jared to snag a few dark horse wins. This will be especially true if Jared utilizes the groundbreaking Farris tech that was recently released to the world via the podcast, The Pitch.

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So this has been Midwestwargaming’s breakdown of the Southeastern Team Championship. Who do you think is going to win it all? And which underdogs are you rooting for? Reply to the comment section here or on Facebook and be sure to follow along tomorrow for some amazing Guild Ball.