UnitedBase is back with the long awaited Fall Cup! The registration has been closed, groups and pre-rolled maps are revealed. The first ever Fantasy League is all set, you can see details on discord, but I’m still due with a few parts of this interview series, where our captains answered some of my serious or not so serious questions.

Brv

How did your team spend the summer break? I believe you are all fluent in Spanish so communication won’t be a problem, but do you feel you have played enough together to prepare for the Fall Cup?

Ned: “We played together one evening, pcw’d against TCFC and Lowzz-1, who we both beat comfortably. So I’d say we are ready, yes. Sharing the Spanish language helps, but this result was par for the course with v r b (Wallas, Ursal, N4xz) as our core, speaking Spanish or not. A well-oiled machine if ever there was one. Combine this rock solid foundation with additional star players like CoD2 legend PlAyAAA, mix-god Vision (who has been grinding lately) and with the return to UO of Estonian (but in Finland residing) equipment engineer and FRS alumni DNA, we are bound for success.”

Does your team have a specific placement goal for this cup?

Ned: “Mainly to have some entertaining games for ourselves, to play to the best of our abilities and build something that resembles an actual team and not just a mix of individuals. To make the cup last as long as possible. But at the same time we are aware (and hoping) that v r b will probably return in full next cup and so we cherish this little Venezuelan get together for what it is; fun.”

…to have some entertaining games for ourselves, to play to the best of our abilities…

-Ned

With particular regard to fantasy league participants, can you tell us your anticipated main lineup for the Fall Cup?

Ned: “I think it will be an equal mix between the seven of us. Individually, there are some tactically planned holidays, full weeks of evening shifts and such, so it looks like all players will be able to play their part and pad their stats during this cup.”

Why did you end up choosing this name apart from the play with the letters, and who came up with the idea?

Ned: “With our v r b core I thought a play on their tag seemed appropriate. But reversing the tag posed the question of what it could possibly mean. After going through a list of explanations for the abbreviation, we narrowed it down to 4 options;

– Big Red Van

– Beer Rum Vodka

– Bonetti Rubinetterie Valduggia

– Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

The second to last one being an Italian plumbing equipment manufacturer, a tempting option and this would have been our name if it wasn’t for the fact that, coincidentally, all our mothers are Venezuelian.”

How’s the connection in Venezuela, how will you overcome the ping issues? And what’s your prediction about your group stage performance?

Ned: Venezuelan Internet is the slowest of Latin America (fact), which thankfully won’t affect us much since we are all residing in Europe. And as far as predicting the group stage; We are definitely one of the teams playing this cup and if the pcw’s were any indication, straight (to the) A’s.

Can you please share some more details about your team and players?

Ned: “N4xz – 35, professional wine drinker, part of original v r b (2005/2006) with Shorty (not playing) and Wallas. Lives around the same parts as Wallas but on the French side of the border.

Wallas – A familiar face we all love, a streamer, rapper, musician and overall entertainer extraordinaire. The core of v r b and living on the Belgian side of the fence, for the beer probably.

Ursal – an enigma, one of v r b’s more recent additions

DNA – 34, As mentioned earlier, Estonian Venezuelan living in Finland, former FRS player (0.5 points, bargain!)  and equipment engineer (in that order). Did not compete in earlier cups due to some heavy IRL’ing but eager to join the fun and motivated to train, with or without the team.

Pl4yAAAA – Slovenian CoD2 transplant, and our latest addition per Kings recommendation, doesn’t know the maps but knows clicking heads.

Vision – Currently furthest out east, in that other country with the yellow, blue & red flag. He has played some cups with Lowzz, is a two-time mixteam instigator and our motivated household grenadier.

Redrum – Pub low, fairly new to this competitive thing but followed it since Reborn Cup #2. Still can’t differentiate between Dawnvilles’ Slums and Ruins and unable to count to 20, apparently.”

Dreamteam

How did your team spend the summer break? Do you feel prepared for the Fall Cup?

Bassie: “Besides playing 4 games in the mini-cup series we haven’t played any other matches.

So we can’t say we prepared really good for the Fall Cup.

I am convinced we don’t need much time to get back on our level and compete our challenging group. “

Does your team have a specific placement expectation or goal for this Cup?

Bassie: “With the addition of majkiiEh this Fall Cup we are more than motivated to win this cup.

Of course it’s no secret that TcfC and FRS are the biggest contenders for the Fall Cup but I love to see that there are a few outsiders like Abearth, Unique and ourselves.

I think we should all not underestimate TMO with top players like skz and r3ziner, who also have a bit of UO experience.”

With the addition of majkiiEh this Fall Cup we are more than motivated to win this cup.

– Bassie

You have a solid and strong four-man core and the question we are all curious about is who the fifth man should be. What qualities do you think this player should bring to balance out the rest of the team?

Bassie: “Our main lineup will be DON, archiMedes, Gerlo, majkiiEh and BASSIE.

majkiiEh is an aggressive player which handle the assault weapons very good. We noticed majkiiEh is very complete last minicup.

Unfortunately, he thought fishing was more important than playing the final, haha. We forgive him!”

How does it affect your team communication in-game to have a non-dutch player?

Bassie: “It’s no secret that we tried to get banksy involved with us but unfortunately he chose to join FRS again. Looks like he will backup their main lineup.

Perhaps this also had to do with majkiiEh his fishing behavior haha, but of course mainly because we prefer a Dutch team.

But in terms of communication it doesn’t matter to us!”

It’s no secret that we tried to get banksy involved with us

– Bassie

Gerlo is undeniably an asset to all the teams he has played for, but he is also known to be pretty serious in cup games. I know you all have played with him on and offline before, so you have experience, but how does his personality fit in with the rest of the core, which has the image of always wanting to laugh and have fun during games?

Bassie: “The fact that Gerlo is pretty serious compared to the rest suits us good in moments when it really matters, such as the play-offs. Concentration level of the rest is significantly lower which has often resulted in a 3/4 vs 1 loss.

Now and then it is also good to ridicule Gerlo again so that the balance remains in our team 😉

Early this year we went to the LAN party in Prague, it’s ridiculous how much Gerlo knows about different city’s such as Prague. Soon we will visit the LAN in Zagreb and we can’t wait for more (incorrect) facts.

With the LAN in Prague it was nice to see also a different side of Gerlo, he (tried) to be the joker many times during our stay. “

Can you please share some details about your team and players?

Bassie: “Gerlo and I know each other for a very long time, mostly during our time playing COD UO but also of course we live in the same village. He is also good friends with my oldest brother Dikke Muj.

Dikke Muj has lived for several years in various squatted buildings, these building had great spaces for LAN parties. We did this many times with the BRN squad… also with players like e1kk1p and Fr1TuuR.

With the return of COD UO in 2020 all players of the current DREAMTEAM started independently at different teams.

From the current main lineup only DON and I started at the beginning of DREAMTEAM. Later on archiMedes, Gerlo and majkiiEh joint in.

We met early this year with the LAN party in Prague and will participate this November also in Zagreb. I think we are very similar and we clicked right from the start!”

Keep an eye out for the next part of the series shared on Discord or check out the previous ones below!