The Playoffs are Coming › idle.ee

idle.ee

A definite contender for the best team ever to compete in Enemy Territory title, idle.ee have near legendary status alongside such great names as Gunslingers, Dignitas, Saevus and Parodia. Winners of the previous EuroCup and undisputed kings of current ET, idle.ee are set on adding another EuroCup title to their name.


Current Lineup:

Jaka "JaKaZc" Kejžar
Hendrik "RELOAd" Kinks
Tore Byron Friedrich "urtier" Trimpop
Erko "r3vers" Selde
Nico "senji" Sinning
Vaiko "Night" Vainola


Team History:

The origins of idle.ee can be traced back for years. One possible logical point to name as the start of this squad is the u96d team which competed four seasons ago in EuroCup X. Featuring only two players from the current roster, Night and r3vers (and later a third in Jakazc), they did not initially find success, failing to reach the playoffs in the cup. The next season, however, was a different story - after narrowly reaching the playoffs they went on to win the season. After taking victory at the QuakeCon ET tournament in that year, u96d joined idle, then promptly disbanded.

EuroCup XI and the following QuakeCon were not to be the end of the story, however, as Night set about rebuilding a team under the idle banner, incorporating two players from the EC XI bronze medalists Gods Inc - Urtier and Senji. Some would say this, not the u96d year, is the starting point of idle.ee, and indeed it is here that Senji chooses to pick up the story.

With the temporary departure of r3vers, the Estonian Holz (who, incidentally, competed under the idle banner against u96d in EC X) was added to the squad, alongside two of his former rAtatosk teammates - sol and Belgian superstar mAx to complete the new team.

When mAx decided to focus on professional Quake 4, and sol went into inactivity, Dutch wunderkind teKoa joined up, forming the 'classic' idle roster as many think of it today - Night, Holz, DeadMeat, Urtier, Senji, teKoa. In their first EuroCup season, EC XII, idle.ee attained good results, but were defeated by u96d's long-time nemesis, the Parodia team.

"After Eurocup [XII] we did not play together," says Senji, "[then] the next EuroCup was announced [and] we decided to try it once more as a team. DeadMeat however was replaced by mike/guardian, [then] after mike quit as well, adzz helped us out in the last EuroCup [XIII] games." With another QuakeCon on the horizon, idle.ee enlisted ferus, initially to replace teKoa, who was unable to go to Dallas, then as a replacement for Adzz at the Crossfire Prizefight Challenge in Rotterdam.

After the LAN events of the summer, says Senji, "teKoa decided to quit, ferus wanted to play CSS and Holz had to go to army." Another major reshake of the lineup was required, and idle.ee enlisted old u96d friends r3vers and Jakazc, as well as the estonian Reload, which (finally) brings us to the present day and idle.ee's team for EuroCup XIV. idle.ee's group stage games went as expected, with idle.ee taking straight map wins over all three of their opponents. idle.ee most definitely still have it, even with their latest changes. The only small consolation for their future opponents is that their competition in group C was perhaps not the strongest in the cup.



Team Strengths:

Trying to list idle.ee's strengths is akin to trying to count the hairs on your head. There is no area of the game where they do not excel. Yes, some teams may have a few better aimers, but everyone in idle.ee's squad has great aim. Perhaps other teams have better tactics on some maps, but idle.ee tactics have always been both innovative and solid on all maps. You may be correct in saying that there are teams with better teamplay than idle.ee, but this doesn't take away from the fact that idle.ee's teamwork in game is almost flawless.

And somehow this has endured despite the numerous roster changes over the past fifteen months. As Senji says, "idle.ee have 6 of the best players in ET and our [biggest strength is] our teamplay, which we somehow have even though we had a lot of roster changes. Another important point is that we have a lot of fun together which keeps up the motivation to play together." Perhaps it is this last point that really makes idle.ee so special. Not only do they have all the factors required of a high level team finely tuned, but they have managed to maintain the motivation for almost a year of consecutive 6v6 victories, something that no other team has ever achieved.

As implied by his previous comments, Senji doesn't really feel that idle has a star player. "Many people would probably name Night," he says, "but if i had to pick one i would go for Jakazc. I really enjoy playing with him since he joined our team and he is one of the best players I know."



Playoff Outlook:

Coming off a straight fourteen 6v6 victories in official matches in EuroCup and LAN games over the past nine months, idle.ee are justifiably extremely confident about their upcoming playoff matchups. "Of course [we're confident]!" says Senji, "We want to win this Eurocup and even though aMenti is probably the hardest opponent in the lower part of the upperbracket I think we are able to win."

They should indeed, by any logical measure, be expected to win against aMenti. On paper the only team which could feasibly challenge idle.ee is the zeroPoint squad featuring the only other former EuroCup champions left in the cup. Teams on paper, however, are never the same as teams in reality. There are perhaps four or five teams remaining in the cup which could cause idle.ee problems, but with their long-term form, it has to be said the EuroCup is idle.ee's to lose.

There isn't really much more to say about idle.ee's playoff outlook. Every game they play is expected to be a whitewash. Teams have surprised us in the past against the Estonian ET giants, but never taken more than just one map. Yes, idle.ee are beatable, any team which plays their best and has luck on their side can take the victory on a map in this playoff stage, and if victory on one map is possible, there is no reason why a second map cannot follow. Any such result would be the biggest upset of the tournament and possibly the biggest upset ever in Enemy Territory history.



Future Plans:

Senji is hesistent about idle.ee's plans for the future. They intend to play at both shgOpen and Crossfire LANs, but beyond that their intentions are uncertain. "I really like the team and I hope and think we will play together as long we can, whether it is in ET, ET:QW, RtCW 2 or some other game," says Senji, "We still hope for Eurocup Lanfinals next season aswell!"