Slagen Bandits do Millennium Paris

World Cup- Paris, last tournament of the year, last chance to reach for glory and to test yourself and your team against opponents from all over the world. Everybody wants to end the year on a high note to fuel the fires for next year and the off season training. There was a recordbreaking number of teams in division 2 as it is the highest unlocked division available for teams that dont play the whole series. We anticipated that with the high number of unranked teams like ourselves there would be plenty of wildcard teams and it would be hard to predict the outcome of most prelim groups.

The weather was splendid all weekend long even though 25 degrees is almost to warm for us northerners to play in. I felt pity for Ingar our snakeplayer as he would run to the snake of the break almost every point this weekend. Thank goodness he is in great shape!

We entered two teams this event, one in div 2 and one in div 3. For many players this was their first millennium, for some old friends it was their first millennium back on the same team again since 2008.

Thursday we walked the field and some people worked on their tan. We had two prelim games on Friday, the first against Athens Legion from Greece. After arriving on site early we manage to put of getting our paint for to long and barely have time to pod up as games are way ahead of the schedule. Totally stressed out we take to the field and a couple of 1-4-1 later we are down 2-0 after only a couple of minutes. The older guys on the team take charge and remind everyone on the team that we have been down many times this season but always managed to come back. We didn't really change our game plan much, we only calmed down and executed it better and put 4 points on the board to win the match.

Next game was against Ferox Rotterdam from Holland. This time we start even worse and dig ourselves really deep into a hole by going 3-0 down. Again we take a deep breath, its plenty of time left on the clock. We have to start by putting one point on the board and once we do that we know what we are capable of. Most importantly: don't get an early penalty!

It is in situations like these I am really proud of my team, even with our backs against the wall we never give up! Once we get that first point  its like a wave of Egos and Geos rolling down the field scoring 4 points. Again we have pulled out a victory from the brink of defeat! Smiles all around we collect our stuff and head back to the hotel to get some rest.

Saturday we had an early game against Mustang Chatreux from France. We managed to scout them on Friday but they have changed their breakout and are now breaking much longer on the snakeside. Once again we have a bad start going 3-0 down before we manage to adjust. Then we get that first point.. And the second.. The third.. We bring it back to 3-3 but this time there will be no great escape as we lose the last point and the match 3-4. Really disappointed and pissed at ourselves we realize that even with two wins we might be knocked out as this means that there are three teams with two wins each in our group.
After we nervously add up the scores we realize we are through, but as number two in our group which means better opposition in our next match.

Our second team had been helping us out in the pit and working their asses of in the heat and now it was time to return the favor. They do great and win all their games except one.

In the afternoon it was time for our first finals game against Manchester Firm 2 from England. We lose two quick points due them playing good and us making some stupid mistakes. We adjust to their breakout and manage to shoot a couple of guys of the break for some quick points ourselves and bring it back to 2-3 but that is as close as we get and they take the last point.

We were really disappointed afterwards in some of the mistakes we made and would like nothing more than a rematch but in the end they played very well and deserved the win.

But at least we had one team playing on Sunday as our second team played great and advanced easily from the prelims. Unfortunately they also got knocked out in their first finals game by team STK who ended up winning the event.

The team learned some harsh lessons in France, and once again it showed that there is no substitute for international tournament experience. So we will take these lessons to heart and grow as a team as we get ready for next year..

Big thanks to:

Planet Eclipse who always have our backs :) Dark Sports and Game-On,Globe Souldiers,Goldhammer Hybrid Foto,Snøservice.no,Tanked KM straps,Slagen Paintball

Follow Slagen Bandits Here: http://slagenbandits.net/site/