MRO: Battalion 1944 Interview - Ephica

Moving on with our interviews for the MRO: Battalion 1944 Open, we've got Ephica's team captain Kurt "Prime"  Aquilina and his replies to the same set of questions we asked Marco "PK" Bugeja here. Let's see what Ephica's mindest looks like in the competition as of this moment. 

1.) Which was the best team you competed against during the group stage? Why?

Team Anarchy; because of their slow playstyle, which makes it quite difficult to assume timings since they don't move until the last few seconds. This passive playstyle is definitely not the easiest to adapt to mid-game. 

2.) With that being said, which player/s specifically were simply a pain to play against?

Alongside the slow playstyle which I mentioned earlier, the fact that Najju from Team Anarchy was deadly Kar98k didn't make it any easier for us. 

3.) How far do you expect your team to travel in this competition? What placement are you aiming for

Our bottom-line expectation is to place within the top 4 though we are currently giving it our all to try to maximise our potential by reaching the Final and winning the whole thing. This isn't going to be easy though. 

4.) Who do you think, if not your own team, is the best team playing at this event, the team to avoid in the bracket?

Considering their impressive streak, I would say that Project Eversio is going all the way and for that reason they're the team we wish to avoid for as long as possible. Should we defeat EvH next Saturday, we will have to face Project Eversio next week in the semi-final winner bracket since they won against Delixx. It will be one incredible match-up.

5.) Describe the level of competition you’ve been encountering across the tournament. Did you expect such a level?

We had quite a pretty balanced group - to tell you the truth we expected to place 1st in the Group but the teams stepped up to the challenge and gave us a run for our money. It seems that we didn't adapt quickly enough to their playstyle since they local teams compete quite differently compared to the foreign teams we often scrim against.

6.) How has the experience been like to compete in the MRO: Battalion 1944 Open?

It was quite a pleasant experience since it was the first opportunity of the year to compete against local teams in this brand new title. As mentioned before, we scrimmed many foreign teams but the level of gameplay and playstyle is quite different. Hopefully enough we will continue to adapt to their playstyle in order to give it all our best to reach the Grand Final.

7.) The final question – do you have any suggestions you’d like to pass on the team at Gamers.com.mt for our future Battalion 1944 events to better the experience

It's quite a tricky question since as Ephica's Captain and as the Community and Events Director with Gamers.com.mt I always try my best to give a pleasant experience to all teams. I asked my teammates for backup regarding this one and their answers were similar to mine in that it was quite a pleasant one. Hopefully enough the game will pick up the pace internationally so we can continue hosting Battalion 1944 tournaments.

It looks like Ephica wasn't expecting such tight competition during these weeks of Battalion 1944. However, they managed to bounce back, though they've got quite a tough match-up against the likes of EvH who finished third in their group with almost exact points as Doubtful. It's a match-up to look forward to on the live broadcast.